Thank you, Joan Embry

We have lost a brilliant, courageous and loving woman.  Joan Embry was deeply devoted to her family, as well as a movement for people with MS.  Joan passed away on April 1 (unexpectedly and unrelated to COVID-19)

As a trained nurse and nutritionist, Joan Embry worked tirelessly with her husband, Ashton Embry, to create a program which might help their son cope with his multiple sclerosis diagnosis.  Out of the love and concern for their son Mathew, the Embrys created Direct-MS, a proactive charity formed in 1998, with the goal of "providing information and strategies that could help reduce symptoms and even slow or halt disease progression."  DIRECT-MS link

The Best Bet Diet was a cornerstone development of the Embrys, based on scientific research compiled by Ashton Embry.  Matt quickly incorporated this diet over 20 years ago, and he credits his successful, progression-free life with MS to this program.  Here is Matt talking, enthusiastically and obviously wonderfully healthy, about the diet that changed his life.
 The BEST BET/MS HOPE DIET

This program would eventually be the inspiration for Dr. Terry Wahls program, as well as many others.  It was a post about the Best Bet Diet on an MS bulletin board regarding vitamin D that sent me off to PubMed to explore the connection with my husband's diet, exercise and sunlight exposure; as related to his vascular problems.  This eventually became The Endothelial Health Program.  I would learn years later that it was Dr. Roy Swank who was the grandfather of this approach to healing with MS, as he had noted the vascular connection and impact of diet decades earlier.  Dr. Swank was also the inspiration behind the Best Bet Diet.

The Embrys were at the very beginning of the empowered patient movement on the internet.  We would eventually connect over Dr. Zamboni's research into the venous system and CCSVI in 2009, after my husband had been treated at Stanford University.  The Embrys were curious about this research, and would begin the Canadian exploration into the vascular connection.  Matt would eventually be treated for CCSVI.

But the cornerstone of Direct-MS is the diet.  And as we all know---it's one thing to eliminate foods, but quite another to find foods and recipes that will keep us satisfied and fit into our lifestyles.  Dr. Swank was well-aware of this problem, and worked with his patients to create his program, as did the Embry family.

In the last year of her life, Joan was updating recipes and working on The Best Bet Cookbook, which Direct-MS, incredibly generously, gives away for free on their website.   You can download a free pdf of the book here:     The Best Bet Cookbook

The Embrys have never put profit or personal gain ahead of their message.  They have always been tireless advocates for better living for those with MS.  The few times we had together, in person, at The Canadian Neurovascular Health conferences or at our home for Matt's filming of Living Proof, were highlights in my advocacy work.

I can think of no better tribute to the Embry Family at this time, than to share their good news of hope and healing---by contributing to their charity, by downloading the Best Bet Cookbook,  or by watching, or rewatching, Matt's beautifully made documentary film, Living Proof https://www.seelivingproof.com

Please join me in lifting the entire Embry family up in prayer and intention, however you practice this in your own life.

As Jeff and I go out to work in the garden today, to harvest greens and soak up the sunshine, we recognize how fortunate we are to have so much, in the midst of global suffering and hardship.  We will say a prayer of gratitude, which includes the gift of the Embry family.  We deeply recognize the importance of family, food, health, love, connection and hope.

All of the things Joan Embry held precious in her own life.

Thank you, Joan.

Thank you, Anne.

Dear Anne,

I love and admire you.  I hope you knew that.  I think I told you, but now I'm not sure.  I love your boundless energy, your keen sense of justice, your brilliant mind, your ability to translate difficult concepts into language we can all understand.  I admire how much you care about other human beings, and advocate for the sick, the poor, the marginalized, those without a voice.  I relish reading anything you write.  I will continue to read and re-read your book and articles and e-mails.  I so wish there would be more.
Link to Macleans articles
Link to "The Meaning of Wife"

I simply can't imagine the world without your clarion voice, your wit, your tenacity.  I can't imagine how your closest friends and family will cope with the loss of your presence in their lives.  How they will deal with your much too soon, unbearable passing.   I just heard from your friend, in a grief stricken voice mail (oh, I've had to make those phone calls when my brother died, and it's simply unbearable.) I do remember meeting him in Rochester with you, when you came from Toronto to see us and talk to us about Jeff's CCSVI treatment.  It was such a joyous time for us all--it felt like rebirth.  Springtime budding in Rochester, music, good food, laughter, hope.

And there have been the conferences together, e-mails, and phone calls.  Difficult times full of controversy and medicalese and renewed and then dashed hopes.  The last two years, I was so frustrated, and I know you knew that.  I lashed out at you, angry that you were simply writing the truth.  I felt betrayed, and we talked, and you forgave me.  I'm so glad we made amends.  Just as I'm glad that I did the same with my brother, before I lost him.  You inspired me to keep writing, to not give up. But you also knew that, for my own sanity, I had to step back.

You dug in and included the history of the vascular connection to MS in your writing about CCSVI.  Everything you wrote was always sourced with links to publications, quotes from doctors, a balanced approach to telling the story.  link  link  link

Thank you for interviewing Dr. Michal Schwartz and for getting her research out into the larger public.  link   You knew it was her research that first inspired me to look at immune cells as protective for the brain, and we bonded over the fact that a brilliant woman had, no surprise, been dismissed by so many powerful men for questioning dogma.  link 
And over time, her theory is being proven, again and again. Someday, boosting specific immune cells and combining lifestyle and vascular intervention may well end neurodegenerative disease.  
link to Professor Schwartz's research

You called us the "impatient patients"....which was simply a perfect description of the frustration that grew out of CCSVI clinical trials halted or mangled, and the influence of pharma.  But many of us  knew it wasn't over.   link

Which is why it's hard for me to grasp your passing.  There's still more to the story, many more truths for you to write.  So much more.  Dammit.

Thank you for everything.  I learned so much from you, Anne.
Love to all those who loved you.
May we advocate for others, in your memory.

May we heed "the urgent call for compassion as the last-gasp remedy for systems on the brink—politics, health care, civil society, the planet itself." (written, as only you could say it, Anne.)

The World is broken-and human kindness is the only solution, by Anne Kingston

Joan

Endothelial Health goes mainstream...

.... and you can stream a new documentary to learn more.

Thanks to my son and daughter in law for the head's up on the documentary, THE GAME CHANGERS    https://gamechangersmovie.com

Presented by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jackie Chan  — a revolutionary new film about optimum health and strength.  You can view it now on Netflix.

My family told me I needed to watch it, because it was documenting what I have been harping on for years.  My son saw me change his Dad's diet and lifestyle, and has heard me discussing this topic for over twelve years.   Mainly, the importance of endothelial health, and how eating plants full of anti-oxidants and phytonutrients increases nitric oxide availability, helps endothelial cells, and increases blood flow to all of our body, most importantly our brains.   

Nutrition is a very large componant of my program, which also includes physical activity, good sleep, sunshine, meditation, probiotics, minerals, smoking cessation, and laughter.   Each and every one of these measures is known to increase nitric oxide, which relaxes our blood vessels and increases blood flow.  This is how we can combat the hypoperfusion, or slowed and restricted cerebral bloodflow, seen in MS, Alzheimer's, dementia and Parkinson's.  These are things we can do for ourselves.  

link to the program

This new movie is focused on elite athletes who utilize plant-based diets to achieve optimum strength and endurance.  And while I do not specifically advocate a vegan lifestyle in The Endothelial Health Program,   I suggest that people with MS favor whole foods and plants, to increase nitric oxide. (There are conflicting views on animal protein within the field of experts, and I DO NOT go into the weeds on this topic.)  My approach has always been to look at positive environmental measures people with MS can take to feel better.   And eating more plants will help accomplish that goal.

In the film, Dr. James Vogel, co-chair of the NFL subcommittee on Cardiovascular Health, discusses the importance of eating plants to increase available nitric oxide and increase blood flow.  He even speaks of the endothelium, and uses the image shown below. (YES!)

Truly, The Endothelial Program works.  Jeff remains on it.   He's still jogging, biking, writing music, traveling, living life, with no MS progression, no new lesions, and a reversal of his gray matter atrophy.  His most recent MRI shows continued healing of his brain, now 13 years since his diagnosis.

With the help of our vegan son and daughter in law, we have learned how to incorporate even more plants into our diet, boosting nitric oxide and reducing inflammatory foods.   Like jackfruit (google it!), legumes, tempeh, and lots more greens.

My hope for all of us, as we begin a new decade, is that we can take care of ourselves, our families, our communities, and discover that there are many things we can do to improve our own health and the health of our planet.

Be well,

Joan