Arthritis Pain

Bob’s chronic arthritic pain lasted more than a decade before it ceased.

"The End of Suffering" blog follow-up:

The End of Suffering: When my husband, Bob, agreed to try fruit fasting to see if it could ease the arthritis pain in his knees, I was happy, but I was also very cautious about getting my hopes up too high.

We are coming up on the second year anniversary of being vegans (70% raw) and the health benefits both of us have experienced have stunned us. The change in lifestyle had definitely helped ease Bob’s arthritis pain, but there was still so much he wanted to do that he couldn’t, including the simple things like just taking a walk with me.

Bob had been a good old-fashionedand potatoes man, growing up in a large Italian family where big meals were love and the more you ate, the more you loved. And, Bob loved…..a lot.

When I met him about 17 years ago, he was just beginning to show signs that the SAD diet was catching up with him and, over the years, everything just continued to decline. But, Bob kept most of his ailments and pain hidden from me behind a cheerful stoic façade.

When I made the decision to be a , I never even dreamed that Bob would be interested in making such a drastic change as well. He loved his meats and dairy and pasta andand I just assumed that I would be preparing twoevery evening and he could have some of my veggies and salads along with his and I was very surprised when he told me that wouldn’t be necessary and that he wanted to just eat what I was eating. VERY surprised.

I never thought it would last because nobody loved theiras much as Bob. What I didn’t know was that Bob had been keeping many very worrying symptoms of illness from me.

He had been experiencing severe leg cramps at night indicative of poor circulation and cardiovascular disease, intermittent gout, shortness of breath, sleep apnea (that one I knew about) decreased mobility and range of motion, and never-ending nagging arthritis in his knees….the whole standard American menu of chronic illness and suffering.

He was attributing most of his aches and pains to normal aging and, characteristically, he never complained. He was at least 80 pounds overweight. Well, it was a remarkable journey of discovery as we both realized that so many of the problems we were having were not inevitable as the doctors had been telling us.

We soon became addicted to feeling well and, one by one, Bob’s health problems magically resolved themselves, as did mine.

We were sold. But, the arthritis in Bob’s knees, though vastly improved, still lingered and, even though we became true believers in the power of foods to heal us, we were both at the point where we were just trying to accept that this arthritis might, in fact, be due to aging (he is 64) and that this was an issue that nutritional therapy could improve, but not completely cure.

I had been watching Dr. Morse’s videos and had read his book. I was wondering if a fruit fast might help Bob. In retrospect, I should have suggested it to him much sooner than I actually did.

Behind his cheerful stoic demeanor, Bob was still in pain with the arthritis, but trying very hard not to let it dominate his life.

We were discussing nutrition earlier this month and Bob mentioned how well he was feeling and then added the usual caveat: “Except for the arthritis in my knees but that’s just something I have to accept.”

Finally, I spoke up. I explained about Dr. Morse’s work and suggested that maybe there was something we could try. Why not give fruit fasting a shot, I asked, it won’t hurt you and, if you can stick with it, maybe you can get a little relief? Even a small reduction in pain would have been a godsend at that point.

Bob agreed and I was happily surprised the same way, almost two years earlier, when Bob had willingly given up all his favorite foods in favor of his health. Once again, I had underestimated the extent of Bob’s pain and frustration and his strong determination to get well.

From a practical point of view, fruit fasting is extremely easy. You buy fruit, you put fruits in containers and take them to work with you and you eat fruit. Lots of fruit. And then you have fruit and more fruit. And, when you’re finished, you go back to the grocery store and buy fruit.

So, yeah, we kind of figured it all out pretty quickly. No menus, no research, no recipes and not much cleanup short of throwing some peels onto a compost heap or in the garbage disposal.

In the evenings, Bob would have green salad with lots of raw veggies and occasionally some steamed veggies too. And then….more fruit.

For twelve days, Bob went to town on watermelon, cherries, cantaloupe, plums (he loves plums), nectarines, bananas, dark grapes, strawberries, blueberries, etc. etc. etc. With his usual single-mindedness and lack of drama, he just went with it and didn’t talk about it much. But, he followed the protocol to the letter.

When I asked him how he felt, Bob would invariably say, “good” or “ok” and I knew that was code for let’s not discuss it, I’ll tell you something when there is something to tell. (Men!!) Then, two days ago, on the 12th day, I was at home when I received a text message from Bob saying that he could never remember a time when his legs felt so good.

I was flabbergasted and immediately texted back and asked for more details and confirmation. He wrote back saying that he felt great and he wasn’t kidding me. At which point I picked up the phone and called him at work (something I normally don’t do because he’s so busy), but this was important.

Over the phone, Bob reported to me that the pain in his knees, which he had had for at least 10-12 years, maybe longer, was G.O.N.E. Gone as in, I’m walking around trying to figure out how to use my new legs and I can’t feel any pain whatsoever….not there, doesn’t hurt, no pain, vanished, poof…….that kind of gone. I lost it. The true beauty and miracle of this healing just brought me to tears. I felt my heart swelling with infinite gratitude inside my chest.

It was a beautiful and deep spiritual moment for me. I was crying and thanking the Universe and Dr. Morse and Nature, itself, for providing us with all the raw materials we need to create health for ourselves in our own lives, without having to resort to drugs and surgery and hospitalizations, all the things I had feared for so long would be inevitable as we got older. The future now seemed boundless and full of possibility.

Everything we planned to do in retirement, the trips we planned to take, the sights we planned to see….suddenly I was overwhelmed with the knowledge that we could do these things in health and joy, and not have to worry about curtailing our activities to accommodate Bob’s aches and pains and limitations.

I took to Facebook to announce the wonderful news and I even called Dr. Morse’s clinic to see if was possible to leave a message of love and gratitude to Dr. Morse, himself.

This simple, loving man, through years of observation, had determined a profound causal connection between high fruit consumption and the drawing of inflammation from tissue and the removal of cellular waste, allowing us to cleanse and detoxify ourselves. This, then, is the essence of healing, the end of our daily ordeals, our needless torment, our collective human aching, misery and anguish.

This is how we were meant to live, how our bodies were meant to function and regenerate. It is so simple and elegant a remedy to so much of our everyday misery that many still cannot accept that such an exquisite solution could possibly be the answer we have all sorely needed for so long.

When Bob came home that evening, we hugged and I cried and Bob looked (stoically) pleased and proud. We had our green salad followed by fruits and berries. After , something extraordinary happened. We got up.

We walked out our front door and we stepped out onto our tree-lined street. Bob took my hand and we went for a walk, the first time we had taken a walk together in so many, many years.

Bob moved slowly and cautiously, but without any pain whatsoever and I watched in awe, as though seeing a child take his first tentative steps for the very first time. In the distance, over the tall trees, the late summer sun was beginning its slow descent and the sky was glowing with an orange and pink haze.

It would be dark soon but, as I held my husband’s hand and we made our way down our street, I knew that we still had time. We still had plenty of time ahead of us. Love, Lori

An update on Bob:

His recovery continues! The residue of pain which he has always had in his toe, from the gout, is now resolving.

He hasn’t had a gout flare-up (very painful) in over a year, but he felt like the gout had damaged the tissue and he would have to live with the pain that was left over from his former flare-ups. Yesterday, he reported to me that was subsiding as well.

At times, he could no longer feel the pain at all. This was something neither one of us had even thought of because we were concentrating on the knee area. Bob is so excited and motivated to continue. Happiness.

Hi everyone, my husband, Bob, continues to make a wonderful recovery from arthritis using Dr. Morse’s protocols.

He is so happy with the lack of pain in his knees and joints, that he doesn’t want to change a thing.

It’s amazing to see how differently he walks and moves these days. His whole stance has changed and muscles in his legs that he hasn’t been able to use for so many years are starting to get stronger. It just keeps getting better and better!