For the last 16 months, it was quite an experience for me! I was experiencing this “skin problem” – eczema, and it took me 9 months to figure out that I was actually having Candida Albicans Yeast overgrowth in my body.
It was first just lots of tiny blisters on my palm and extremely dry skin on my thumbs that they always split open with blood coming out. I remember I had to avoid touching water with my hands completely that I had to wear gloves during shower. And my hair also got sticky and started to have lots of dandruff which I had no idea why. I did use herbal poultice to speed up the healing process of those broken blisters and skin. However, those blisters will come right out again after healing. Then I figured there must be something wrong inside my body.
It was a time that I was under great stress as the bug in our house kept circulating among us. For almost two months, I could only slept 2.5 hrs each night on average as the girls took turn vomiting or crying in the middle of the night. Once I myself was off the hook of coughing, I stuffed myself with chocolate as a way to relax. That’s when my skin problem got even much more worse. My arms started to itch, and my neck, legs, etc. Then I started to scratch till bleeding especially during my sleep. Derek and I had to think of ways to prevent me from scratching when sleeping, like tying my hands together, tying my hands to the side of our futon, wearing gloves and secure them with belts….etc..but I could undo all these in the middle of the night and just scratched. Many times I’d have to get out of bed and focus on researching on the internet for hours that the itch could finally subside. As I researched, some websites mention that if bruises appear along with itchy skin like I did, may need to check for thyroid disease. So I asked my doctor, and he just said I was having eczema. Since then, I kept researching on eczema. I changed my diet a bit, I stopped using any soap and shampoo with chemicals, and I kept using herbs that are supposed to be good for eczema. My skin did improve at times. However, I noticed that whenever I ate sweets after church service, my condition would get worse.
It was March last year that I got my first horrible break out on my face which lasted a month. It was large patches of inflammation on my face, around my eyes and mouth, and also thick crusting on those patches. The crusting was so thick that I couldn’t even have facial expressions. It was really weird and scary looking. And yes, it hurt and itched at different stages. I used aloe vera juice to wash my face and apply the herbal salve that I made myself. And I also drank the burdock and dandelion tea every day, which are blood purifier and cleanser that can be used to neutralize and eliminate toxins in our body, good for chronic skin problems. At this point, I still didn’t know the exact cause of the break out. And many areas of my body darken to gray in colour. Even my fingernails were gray. And I was still having bad hair. I tried to avoid eating refined sugar, refined flour and chemicals, i.e. processed food. As I did not really follow a strict diet, my condition fluctuated. However, it was getting better slowly in general.
The second episode of the horrible break out on my face was August last year. I remember I thought I was better, then I ate some white buns, hot dogs, desserts during some summer gatherings. Then that was it. I had to hide at home for several weeks again. I was really frustrated as I had tried everything that I know of and couldn’t keep this kind of break out from happening. Therefore, I kept researching. I started the Elimination Diet, hoping to figure out if I had any food allergies or food intolerances. My skin problem improved in two weeks, but it was not all clear though, like it’s still itchy and I still scratched. That indicates there’re still some other underlying factors as well. Finally, I decided to try the Candida Diet and treatment . I came across Candida Yeast overgrowth in my research earlier, but I did not want to believe that it was my problem as it seems hard to due with. However, at this point I had no choice. Therefore, I began this cruel diet. It was very challenging. At first, I cheated a little from time to time as the diet almost seems impossible. However, as I noticed my symptoms keep disappearing when I was more disciplined, I knew it worths the effort! I didn’t even need to have my hands tied before going to sleep anymore!
As I was A LOT better after being on the diet for almost two months, I thought again that maybe I could eat some sweets! It was apple pie season and I couldn’t resist a piece that I made for the family! A week after, we went to the Maxwell conference and stayed at a bed and breakfast. I couldn’t resist the homemade white toast there…….and so it went my third episode of the horrible break out on my face. I was extremely discouraged at that time. It seems that it only takes a few bites of food to make my condition reverse for a few months. I wanted to give up and just eat whatever was in front of me, no more special planning and preparation for MY meals! But I couldn’t do that….as when I was having a break out, I had to stay home and couldn’t take the girls out for activities for weeks, and I was just pregnant too, how could I put the health of our new baby in jeopardy..…? I cried out to the LORD, but still had no idea of what to do. More details about that period was written in A Battle.
I did need help and encouragement from someone who understands my situation. I needed to talk to someone who knows what I am talking about, not just searching through books and internet. Therefore, the idea of seeing a naturopathic doctor and a chiropractor came up to me and Derek! We did have coverage, so we thought why not give it a try. Then, I had on going visits to both doctors for about 2 months. Most of the things they talked about I already knew, but it was good to have someone to talk to. And I was given some homeopathic remedies as well. My naturopathic doctor even offered me muscle testing and NAET treatments. It is a basically very simple testing (like pushing my hand while having me hold a particular food sample in my hand) to indicate what food I am sensitive/allergic to and a treatment to remove my sensitivity to it! I found out that I was actually sensitive to dairy products, rice, oats, eggs, beans, etc. Therefore, I had to drop those food and red meats as well on top of my Candida Diet! It sounded really crazy as it seemed like I could eat nothing. But I did improve faster once I did that! Also, one particular allergy can be removed in just one or two days with a NAET treatment! So there’s hope! It all sounds so perfect although it seems quite mysterious as well, as I don’t really understand how that works. Me and Derek did have conversation about if all these are related to some evil force, but our eagerness of me being well again in a short time stop us from doing any more research about these kinds of practice, especially that we did not notice any idol worshipping involved. However, we did ask God to show us whether our decision was right or not. The doubt was still in our mind.
Then, we met some new families at the New Year’s Eve gathering, and somehow we talked about healing, alternative medicine, etc. A lady mentioned that she once read a book by a Christian author who did quite an extensive research on alternative medicine. And he found out that a lot of these things are New Age related. Besides, the founder of Homeopathy was actually quite a weird man. This bit of knowledge made us feeling uncomfortable to go on with treatments, but the temptation of being well again ‘instantly’ (i.e. verses waiting for my body to get strong again to overcome the yeast and allergies, that could take months or even years with diet) made me continue with the appointments. At the same time, we did research more about it. But I could only find one article that talks briefly about how alternative medicine does relate to New Age philosophy, so I kind of putting it aside and asked God for more direction.
One week later, we had a Bible study with some other families. A lady there suddenly mentioned about an article that she read recently by David Cloud which explains why alternative medicine are not biblical. At that time, we were like, “Wow, God keeps giving us hints!†We searched that article on internet and it’s much more detailed. Therefore, no more excuse for us to go on with those treatments. We told God that although we still did not fully understand about alternative medicine, but it does appear it’s something that God does not like and I should gave up the idea of depending on ‘them’ to heal me. Rather, I should depend on God Himself alone. One thing that I should point out is that, during the period of receiving treatments, I had nightmares quite often, which I do not usually have. And after I stopped all the treatments, my nightmares are gone! I cannot really say they are related, but it’s how it happened!
Around that time, my condition was improving. After I stopped all my NAET treatments and homeopathy remedies, I even stopped using any natural treatments like taking garlic, herbs and grapefruit seed extract. I was not sure why, maybe I wanted to take a break. Then it was time of my sister’s wedding banquet in the middle of January this year. I tried some food again, even some white sugar. And I told myself I should take the garlic and grapefruit seed extract again to prevent the yeast from growing back. But I did not. I even ate more ‘forbidden’ food the week followed. I guess I lacked the perseverance to ‘endure’ the diet for a real long period. I told God that I knew drugs are not good for us so I searched for alternatives. But then, God also does not like alternative medicine, so what should I do? However, I do know that eating garlic, herbs and grapefruit seed extract should be fine with God, I stopped all those just to pretend I was well already because I did not want to think about this anymore. Stupid me, that led to my 4th episode. All over my face, horrible. This time, I even got a time limit to get well as we had registered for a Mission Conference in Pennsylvania that held in the middle of February. I had only 4 weeks.
A friend suggested that we should trust God can heal me instantly and asked Him for that in faith! Like those miracles in the Gospels! This idea made us into thinking! For a whole year, we asked God to heal me, to give me strength to endure and to have joy over those depressing and frustrating times, but we never thought of asking God to heal me instantly! Didn’t Jesus heal the blinds, the lames, the sick and even raise the dead when the people just asked or even just touched His clothes? I realized that my underlying reason of not asking for a miracle was somehow I thought I did not deserve a miracle. It seems that it would be too good to be true for a person like me to experience a miracle like that. But when I came to think about it, it’s not a matter of deserving or not, but a matter of having faith or not. We started to meditate the following verses and others.
Matthew 9:20-22 “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.â€
Matthew 9:27-29 “And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.”
Matthew 21:21-22 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.â€
Mark 10:46-52 “And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me…….. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.â€
Mark 16:15-18 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.â€
James 5:13-16 “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.â€
Therefore, we started to pray and pray differently. We asked God to teach us how to pray and how to have faith. We prayed for a miracle! We asked specifically that God would take away my yeast, my allergies, and heal my face. I also told God that if there is any reason for not healing me, like training my self-discipline, I would accept that as well. But please let me understand the lesson! What happened then? My face did not clear overnight. However, the healing process was speeding up!! Just a few days before the conference, my face was OK enough to meet people again! I am so thankful! Every time I look at the mirror I have to say thanks to the Lord! However, I did not dare to test my allergies yet at that point. The conference trip in the States was a total of 7 days for us. I tried my best to prepare what I could eat to take along with me, but it was impossible to prepare everything that I needed for 7 days. We continued to pray that God would take away my allergies, and would control the yeast in my body.
During the conference, I still avoid to eat sugar and refined wheat products. But I did learn to try beans, rice, oats, tomatoes, red meat, and dairy products with thanksgiving! 1Ti 4:4 – 5 “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.†Nothing really bad happened! After we returned, I did go back to my strict diet before, to give my body a rest I think. Then after a few weeks, I tried to eat one piece of fruit a week like bananas, pears, and berries. And I WAS OK with those! I didn’t eat any fruit for half a year! Then I tried brown rice, couscous, oats….etc. Wow, till this day, I’m still OK! No flares up! I am so happy and thankful! I believe the Lord is healing me indeed!
To our surprise, we came across a book called “On Alternative Medicine†by Rodney Mast on a booth in the conference. We got it of course. It’s God’s answer to us about our doubts concerning the issue. And we are glad that we stopped involving with them in time. We do not want to do anything that God hates!
I cannot say I’m all well already. Like my hair is still a bit strange and my arms still get a bit dry and a bit itchy at times. But there are no bleeding, no pain, no skin inflammation of any kind. I believe the Lord is healing me! I am still paying attention to what I eat as I do think it’s my own responsibility to eat well to nourish my body. I try not to eat the same food over a few days in a row to trigger allergy, and I still avoid both refined and natural sugar, and also refined wheat products. I just do not want to give any chance to the Candida Yeast to grow at least before the baby is born.
And I will keep on praying, and learning how to pray! The Lord is faithful indeed!
Then I looked at my girls in little white dresses, thinking that they would soon be in big white dresses standing in the middle of the stage…….
Praise to the Lord that our Melody was born on Wednesday afternoon, June 3, 2009 at 3:49pm. 7 lbs 3 ozs. Thank you for all your prayers!
If you have a child under 3 years old, especially if you have a large family, this message will be very important to you. It’s a very good reminder from Brother Denny. Please go to the following link for the mp3 file of the sermon. And I do have a summary follows, but I do strongly recommend the mp3 file.