“I teach you to preserve your health,
so that you will succeed better in proportion as you avoid doctors.”
Leonardo da Vinci. (Seems like our distrust of them was not born yesterday…)

Years ago, out of fear, ignorance, vanity and intimidation (lethal combination), I subjected myself to a disastrous ear surgery: bad genes inherited from my father as well as several extended sojourns in humid West Africa, coupled with a childhood in the wet Parisian region, rendered me prone to severe and painful ear infections despite our vegan and homeopathic lifestyle

In those days, the common assumption was that children’s nervous system wasn’t fully developed and that, therefore, they didn’t feel pain as much as adults. Many people my age have horror stories to tell about repeated visits to the dentist’s office and the drilling torture they endured as kids: anesthesia wasn’t used as often as it is nowadays. The remedy against ear infections was the well-known “paracentesis”, a procedure during which the white-coated doctor, who smelled of ether and formaldehyde and wore some head gear with a flash light, shoved some sharp instrument in my ear to pierce the ear drum, so as to allow the bacteria trapped into the middle-ear to escape. This was followed by several days of peroxide drops which stung and made me scream. Needless to say, the word “doctor” was enough to send me into a fit of fear and despair and my mother, who had a difficult time handling her children’s cries, got into the habit of putting us in front of the fait-accompli: in the most opportune time, with no advance notice, a white-coat would appear at the front door. We would all run for cover, never quite sure who would be victimized that day but assured that one of us was going to be. That is how, in fact, we all gave up our adenoids and, to this day, I remember it vividly. I must say that one of the medical progresses I truly appreciate is the wide-spread use of anesthetic and pain killers: they definitely have a place in our life, even though some people do tend to abuse them.

Eventually, my ear drum was scarred in so many places and so weak that, within hours of an excruciatingly painful infection, it would simply tear on its own before the doc ever showed up, bringing immediate relief from both the pain and the fever. At the first sign of fever, my mother got used to putting the burning drops into my ear canal and, within hours, I would be well.

In those days (which are not so remote: I am only 50), everyone was starting to embrace the lifestyle to which we now have become accustomed: more and more children were enrolled in after school activities such as dance, tennis, horseback riding and other sports to prevent them from roaming the streets and cause mischief. Mine were swimming and judo. In retrospect, swimming in a pool full of chlorine was probably the last thing I needed but dwelling on the past won’t fix it: what is done is done and, in fairness to our parents, they did the best they could with what they knew, the same way that we are now doing with our children the best we can with what we’ve learned.

In any event, in my early adulthood, I was accidentally diagnosed with what is called a cholesteatoma, “a skin growth that occurs in an abnormal location, the middle ear behind the eardrum. It is usually due to repeated infection, which causes an ingrowth of the skin of the eardrum. Cholesteatomas often take the form of a cyst or pouch that sheds layers of old skin that builds up inside the ear. Over time, the cholesteatoma can increase in size and destroy the surrounding delicate bones of the middle ear. Hearing loss, dizziness, and facial muscle paralysis are rare but can result from continued cholesteatoma growth”. http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/cholesteatoma.cfm. It wasn’t painful and I had no symptoms, other than an increasing hearing loss.

Ignorant about natural medicine and afraid of what I had been told by the surgeon who used words such as “tumor”, “losing the nerves of the face” and “potential permanent brain damage”, terrified of becoming a monster unable to close my mouth or my left eye, I agreed to undergo the delicate and lengthy microsurgery, which entailed making a 3” opening from the ear to the temple, flipping the skin and muscle, scraping the mastoïd and the tiny bones conducting the sound, and grafting a makeshift ear drum to protect the middle-ear. Any surgery is traumatic. Not only did that one fail but, in addition, my temporomandibular joint was permanently damaged, leaving me with a crooked jaw and causing undue wear-and-tear on my teeth. Not to mention the shaving of half my hair, which plunged me into intense embarrassment for several months. That, my friends, is what we expose ourselves when submitting to surgery: in addition to the risk of failure, there always exist collateral damages any time we cut or puncture the skin. And although surgical consent forms purport to warn us of said potential collateral damage, most doctors as so eager to perform their craft that they tend to downplay the risks. How do I know? Ask them the hard questions, such as “What is the likelihood of a failure of the surgery and please, quantify it?”, “What percentage of patients develop such and such side effect?”, “What is the worst that can happen, should I decline the surgery?” and the mother of all questions: “What alternative methods exist before I submit to surgery?” Try it: I can guarantee you that you will get, at best, some rather vague answers.

The cholesteatoma recurred and in 1984, I had to subject myself to a second operation performed in the US and during which I was, once again, cut open, although not in the same place: the opening, that time, was behind the ear and required more shaving, more excruciating pain and more embarrassment. I survived but, ever since then, I have been forced to have a CAT-scan and consult yearly an ENT for follow up, in case of a possible recurrence of the cholestheatoma. To top it off, my hearing loss has considerably worsened and I constantly need antibiotic drops as moisture from a humid climate or a shower promotes the growth of bacteria, hence what has now become a “recurring, chronic infection”. In other words, I will have problems for the rest of my life. At some point, I was fit with some custom made ear plug which never stopped the condensed water contained in the ambient air to penetrate my ear canal. The cost associated with that left ear, including surgeries and dentistry, has probably long exceeded six figures by now.

In addition to its cleansing and detoxification programs, DrNatura carries a fantastic product I had never heard of before discovering its website: colloidal silver. “ Colloidal silver appears to be a powerful, natural antibiotic and preventative against infections. Acting as a catalyst, it reportedly disables the enzyme that one-celled bacteria, viruses and fungi need for their oxygen metabolism. They suffocate without corresponding harm occurring to human enzymes or parts of the human body chemistry. The result is the destruction of disease-causing organisms in the body and in the food.” http://www.all-natural.com/silver-1.html

Since I am “doomed” to suffer the consequences of my bad choices, i.e., the side effects of the surgeries I underwent years ago out of ignorance, vanity and fear, I might as well look into the best way to cope with my present situation. Best, for me, means simply this: it has to be effective, harmless and affordable. I have long realized that the more natural a product is and the more harmless it is. Of course, there exist, in their natural form, thousands of substances with the potential to not only harm me but also kill me. However, the way I see it, man has been in existence for thousands of years and has had ample opportunities to experiment and recognize them. That’s how I know for a fact that certain mushrooms are deadly, some ivies cause rashes and one can extract poisons out of common household plants. That is called “learning from others’ past mistakes” and that, in fact, is what life is all about: learning what works and what doesn’t and sharing the knowledge with others so as to prevent them from making the same mistakes and suffer the same consequences we did.

There is ample documentation about the benefits of colloidal silver on the internet (thank God for Information Technology: unlike the previous generations, I can learn a great deal without leaving the comfort of my home, which saves me a considerable amount of time while giving me access to both sides of any issue. It doesn’t get any better than that!) In addition, thousands of users have reported on the breakthrough they experienced with colloidal silver, on DrNatura site as well as unrelated ones. Would so many of us swear by a product unless we knew for a fact that it was efficient and effective? Would we recommend a mechanics if he weren’t living up to our expectations? Would we refer someone to a doctor we knew to mangle patient? Absolutely not! Deep inside, everyone of us wants to help others. There is a natural human yearning to create happiness in others. Why? Because when they feel good, they become pleasant to be around. They are joyous, peaceful and outgoing and they make us feel good.

Anyway, I ordered a while back several bottles of colloidal silver, satisfied that their potential adverse effects were limited (I will get back to that in a moment) and I have used it in my ear as needed, in addition to swallowing a teaspoon of it every day. Here is what I discovered:

Now about the adverse side effects of silver: the only one known is argyria, a graying of the tissue from excess silver in the body. It is neither toxic nor deadly and, contrary to what Rosemary Jacob has extensively declared and stated, it does not result from “colloidal silver” but from a combination of silver and nitrates in use 50 years ago. True, Ms. Jacob suffers from argyria, which is quite unsightly and probably emotionally devastating, as shown on http://www.together.net/~rjstan/. Her skin is gray, which makes her look sickly. However, more than the silver itself, Ms. Jacobblames her physician for her condition, as evidenced by her statement: “If my doctor had read the medical literature instead of the ads, I wouldn’t look like this today.” Why? Because at the time when she was prescribed silver nitrates, there already existed enough medical information for him to know of their side effects. Notice that Ms. Jacob does not allege any illness, ache, pain or serious condition from the silver nitrates other than the color of her skin. Nor does Stan Jones, the former Montana candidate for the Senate, the only other known case of argyria in the recent years, who admitted to having used a poor quality colloidal silver he manufactured himself and took in excessively large quantities. And as he himself declared, as blue as his skin may be (and according to his own words, whatever picture has been published was “doctored” before hand: he is far from being as blue as the press made him out to be), he is in excellent health and attributes it to colloidal silver http://www.msrebel.com/Colloidal%20Silver.htm.

So, as far as I am concerned, Colloidal silver is safe, non toxic and much more effective than the antibiotic suspensions I spent the last 22 years buying. 240 ml of Sovereign Silver cost less than $25.00, or $.10 per ml. A 5 ml bottle of Tobradex, lasting less than two weeks, costs $65.00 or 130 times more. Need I say more?

Why Sovereign Silver and not another brand? The answer is easy: I used Colonix and it did wonders for me. I then used Toxinout and I regained the ability to discern nuances between dark colors. Since starting Sovereign Silver, my hearing has improved. No brainer…

Christine
www.CBrightlife@aol.com