I was 25 when I stepped into a dentist’s office with my freshly earned full dental plan from my unionized job at a sawmill. I needed a checkup and a small filling. I ended up with a full exam with x-rays, and a sales pitch: according to the x-rays my molars were getting weak and needed improvement. They needed to be loaded with mercury amalgams, a total of 12 sizeable fillings. It is very strange that the teeth that were not filled with mercury are still intact 25 years later. I should have clued in, but I was a fresh immigrant from Eastern Europe and trusted the kind dentist implicitly. I should have known that he was serving his (economic) interest, not mine. I trusted his white lab coat and the framed diploma on his wall; surely, he would have my best interest in mind. The fillings were installed in 4 sessions, one week apart. After the second session I came down with a massive herpes breakout blister on my lip, the first one I ever had. I should have clued in then. Within a year I started having back problems. I was a strong young man before, but now I was having to take sick days. The injuries were not really caused by my job, but by the poison that caused my body to begin falling apart. But we did not know that. In year two I was so debilitated that I had to crawl on all fours to go to the bathroom, several times a year, for a week or two at a time. 

After my back went, I also started having problems with my feet and wrists and the arches of my feet were collapsing - carpal tunnel syndrome and plantar fasciitis. I had to change jobs to something less physically demanding. I was seeing a chiropractor twice a week just to keep going. Out of curiosity I had my hair analyzed (to check for toxins), and it came back with mercury toxicity. I should have clued in then but did not. I was just puzzling over where I might have gotten mercury poisoning, not at all connecting it to the dental upgrade I had received.

In year three I started having serious dental problems - periodontal disease, gum recession and loose teeth. I was successful in my career and was earning well. I was spending lavishly on dental care to save my teeth and gums. I had several tissue graft operations done, some worked, and some did not. I still have all my teeth, but what an ordeal that was! True to the indoctrination I received as a regular member of this society and culture, instead of looking for the cause I was trying to fix the problem - my ailing body parts, not considering the whole system, and not focusing on finding the root cause. It is curious how conditioned we are by our society in which we interact with others and learn from them how to handle “problems”. Now I can see this pattern in almost every area of our society.

I saw medical doctors, orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors, naturopaths, physiotherapists, and a good range of more esoteric therapists, including Rolfing, Bowen, Feldenkrais, craniosacral, McKenzie, Alexander, and more. Each of them worked on me and produced some relief, although I was still suffering a relapse several times a year, during which I would be unable to sit in a chair, sleep in a bed, drive a car, or do many other activities we take for granted. I still had relapses where I would have to crawl on all fours to go to the bathroom, because I could not stand up straight. The decline continued. I was still eating the Standard American Diet and I was beginning to put on some weight.

In year ten I came down with severe allergies, debilitating me for several weeks each spring. I went to my doctor for help. He offered me Sudafed. I asked if that was going to cure me and he said no, I would have to take it for the rest of my life. There was no cure for allergies, he told me. Not one of these well-trained people suggested mercury poisoning and yet, that was the primary cause of my health problems. Not one of them tried to find the cause, they were all just treating the symptoms. I finally hit the proverbial wall. I realized that I would have to help myself, because the professionals were not going to do it for me. I started studying books about health and healing. I read books by Bernard Jensen, Herbert Shelton, John Tilden, and Harvey Diamond.