I was in Beaver Creek, Colorado at a friend’s home in February 2007. The altitude was rougher to deal with than in years past. Because I was having more difficulty breathing than in recent years my daughter, a third year nursing student, kept asking me if I was alright … of course I replied … yes.

Upon returning to Nashville I was extremely busy and running at all hours, not exercising and eating worse than at any time I could recall. I was on the road constantly and not taking any kind of care of myself at all. The first Thursday in March I left Nashville for a Board meeting in Orlando, and made a quick trip back to Nashville for a meeting at which I was speaking Friday afternoon. Over the weekend I ate poorly. Sunday afternoon I ate a huge amount of food and topped it all off with a massive amount of dessert. That evening I had been asleep for about an hour when I was awakened with shooting pains in my chest. I was up on all fours trying to get a breath. I got up, managed to get downstairs, trying to pull it together … my arms were numb, my chest pounding and trying to catch a breath, I was too proud to call for help. I was sweating, in pain, and stark terror I finally awakened my wife who immediately began pressing to call an ambulance or to get me in the car and head to the hospital. Stubbornly I refused and kept saying wait … I will be ok. In just a few minutes I burped …a huge burp … immediately I felt better. A few minutes later I burped again and felt absolutely fine. I went back to sleep in a few minutes and slept like a baby.

The next morning I did call my physician, told him of the events and was immediately given an appointment. Long story short … I had experienced a horrible acid reflux event, which unbeknownst to me, can mirror a heart attack. It appeared that this was all that it was … but as a precautionary measure my doctor scheduled a quick scan the next day to make certain that my heart was alright.

The scan didn’t take so well … and my test was not great. The test revealed that there was something that needed an additional look. Some blockage was revealed. I was scheduled for an additional procedure, a stress test/treadmill and heart scan … the good news and bad news was revealed after these tests. While I did not have significant heart problems I did have some very mild blockage that had been detected early enough to be able to address the issues with changes in lifestyle and diet. My cholesterol was way too high and if I did not change my patterns I was heading for more heart problems. (I need to say that I was not obese and was not going into this process to lose weight or something such as this.) My first miracle … a bad acid reflux attack!!!

During this ordeal I was blessed with a wonderful gift that was completely unexpected. My son’s girlfriend had accompanied our family on the trip to Colorado just a month earlier and she had been introduced to a Health and Wellness expert, Celeste Davis. I liked what I had heard and after receiving all the not so great news that things needed to change in my life, my wife and I began praying about what I/we should do. My second blessing in this series of events was a wife who decided that she too was ready for some changes in the ways we were living in the area of our food consumption. We made that first visit to see Celeste. We made the commitment to start the detox process and over the next month our lives changed radically. The process was not just about eating … it involved the choices and decisions that we were making everyday about not only what we were consuming, but about the reality of what God wanted for us in our hearts as well. The weekly meetings with Celeste provided the support, encouragement and knowledge that this really does work. The sessions were a major part of the process. In fact, because it was starting to work for us, our journey spread over into our friends lives as well. We introduced several of our closet friends to Celeste and their journeys began. We were blessed to have a community to share this experience with.

While the detox was not fun at first, it was empowering and exhilarating after the first few rough spots. During the first month my bad cholesterol dropped over 50% and my good increased 3 times. When my doctor did the blood work again six weeks after the reflux ordeal he sent me a note saying that this report was a grand slam!!! He had not seen such a radical reduction in such a short time.  My wife also added more strength and energy to her life as well as reducing body fat. (She also was not overweight.)

Over the course of the last 12 months I have found those foods that I can re-enter into my eating patterns. My health has never been better … I am still actively engaged in my process and have been able to find the balance in my food choices which I know has extended my physical well-being. Simply stated, I am better. I go back for a scan in June and for my next round of blood work, and am eager to receive the results.

This process is a gift … all that is required is the willingness to be willing to change! As it is said in one fellowship … “It works if you work it.” And I would add, if you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was!

NOTE:  Roger’s blood work continues to be great as he takes care of himself, now 4 years later.