My Story

The 1960's and '70's, when I was growing up, were a time of emerging health awareness in our society. Natural foods stores came into being. Books and pamphlets were published on the health benefits of exotic things like bee pollen and Chinese herbs. It was an incredibly exciting time. I learned to read food labels and avoid items that were laden with preservatives or lacking in nutritional value.

Surrounded by a healthy, thriving family, I felt incredibly fortunate. We had our usual colds and viruses that run through every family, but the notion of grave illness was remote to me.

New Chapter
The first little crack in my complacency came when my mother was diagnosed very early, almost by chance, with breast cancer. She had a successful treatment and survived many more years. But since her mother had died of breast cancer, and her father had died of cancer as well, at that time I had to acknowledge that cancer was officially a member of my family tree.

Many years later, my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood. All my life to date I had studied health as a hobby-- how to be healthy, live well, eat well, get proper excercise. Nothing prepared me for how to deal with illness. If one does get terribly sick, what then?

At that time, my only notion was to turn over all hope to the medical community. We hoped her doctors knew best, had her best interest at heart, had access to world class drugs and the latest information, and would do everything they possibly could. And they may have. I'll never really know. The only thing I knew how to do was to watch, wait, and provide love and support to my amazing, brave mother as her disease progressed. She passed away on Mother's Day, May 10, 1998, at the age of 71.

The Other Shoe Drops
At the time, my father was also facing illness. He suffered from both rheumatoid arthritis and heart failure, and had had surgery to install a device to help his heart pump correctly. But it took the wind out of a man who had always been strong, and the rheumatoid arthritis caused him severe pain. He was allergic to most pain medications, which limited the ability of the docs to help him with pain management.

One of the most helpless feelings we have as human beings, I believe, is when someone we love is in pain and we can do nothing to help. I cannot remember ever feeling as helpless as I did at that time.

When my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, he actually welcomed the news. It was his ticket out. He knew he would not have to be in excruciating pain indefinitely. My dear, wonderful dad passed away on November 14th, 2000 at the age of 76.

The Effects of Erosion
At some point, with all this happening, my ability to sleep deeply and well began to evaporate. It started with my first pregnancy, during which I developed insomnia for the first time in my life. Baby Genevieve was born two months before my mother's passing. And she proved to be a terrible sleeper, so my sleep problems continued. I was pregnant with my twins when my father passed away, and had an equally difficult time sleeping during that pregnancy. Baby Everett and baby Eliza proved to be poor sleepers as well. And so it continued.

The stresses of what was happening in my life, combined with sleep deprivation, I believe, created a fissure in my immune system's ability to cope. I began to have body aches that seemed to come from nowhere, and could not be addressed with exercise, stretching, hot baths, or rest.

More News
Then another shock came. My dearest aunt--my mother's sister--very suddenly took ill in March of 2002. She was diagnosed with a cancer that was so rampant the doctors could not identify its origin in her body. In two weeks, she was gone. It seemed that after all my years of complacency, I was now destined to lose a close family member every two years.

The Erosion Continues
I began to worry about my own health. I had small children, which filled me with an enormous sense of responsibility to remain healthy. I fretted that I should be doing more and wondered if I could potentially be the next cancer victim in my family. So I started visiting my physician more often. What could I do, I asked, to thwart the arrival of this oncoming train? My grandparents had died of cancer, and then my parents and my aunt. I was now nearing the age when my mother first had cancer. And, I also wondered, what if my parents had been more proactive with their health when they were my age? Could they have lived long enough to know their grandchildren?
 
Here was my doctor's answer: She informed me that I could get annual tests for a variety of major illnesses. I remember squinting at her and asking if that was really all there was... testing to find out if you already had something dire? Wasn't there more a person could do to stay well in the first place? She repeated that annual testing was my best bet. I walked away with that knowledge, but vowed to take even better care of myself, to try to sleep more, exercise more, and to eat the best diet I could. I converted as much as possible to organic foods.

But nothing assuaged my worries. So I went back to the doctor and began to order the tests. I told her to test me for everything my HMO would allow. All tests came back fine, but I wasn't satisfied. I told her that it just didn't seem right that all you could do was wait another year and test again. What if you caught something life limiting the day after the tests, and didn't find out about it until the next round of testing when it was likely too late? This sounds a little nutty to me now, but at the time I was in a bit of a tailspin, and my coping resources were thin from sleep deprivation.

Diagnosis
Her answer this time was to give me a diagnosis: I had obsessive-compulsive disorder, she said. And she prescribed an anti-depressant that had been shown to help with people who were "OCDs," like me.

So I took it. After all, the doctor knows best, right? At this point, you can probably guess what happened next. The anti-depressant did nothing for me, and in fact it made me fret that after focusing on healthy habits for so much of my life, here I was taking a synthetic drug with potential side effects, liver toxicity, and so on. And all I really wanted was a better handle on prevention. (Note: I am not at all negative about anti-depressants, and I believe that they are often medically indicated. But they weren't the right thing for me at that time.)

So I went off of the anti-depressant. And I began reading and researching. I started taking extra nutrients, like vitamin C for its antioxidant properties. I also incorporated vitamin D and calcium, which helped me to feel in better balance and more relaxed. I had a little "Ah-Ha!" at this point that supplements could actually make a difference.

But my sleep was still very sketchy, and my body aches worsened. I stretched, I walked, I rested, sought chiropractic help. But still I had searing pains running down my sciatic nerve and illia-tibial band (side of my legs). My arms and hands would go numb at night and in the morning I had a hard time getting out of bed because I ached from head to toe.

Enter the World of Supplements
I began talking to a friend who seemed to know a lot about health, and she recommended that I try something called "OPC-3." It was a super-antioxidant, she said, and it was known to help with pain and inflammation. I willingly tried it. It was completely natural, so it was right up my alley. She was a distributor of the product through a company called Market America.

My pain began disappearing in about three days. Several weeks later, it was quite manageable. And in a few months it was gone completely. Also, I had more energy and better spirits, as if a toxic burden were being lifted off of me.

By that time, I had become a distributor as well. I began to listen to other people's stories and their issues, and to find great enjoyment in being able to offer them some resources, especially when they came back to me and said they were feeling better. I read as many testimonials as I could find about the results people were getting from different supplements in Market America's product lines so I could recommend specific things when needed. And I began to have exciting successes with my customers.

At this point, I had quite a few enlightening realizations:
1. The medical community is sadly ill-equipped to assist patients with prevention.

2. Natural supplements can possess some extremely powerful capabilities, especially when great care is taken in the research behind the ingredients, the grade of ingredients, the processing, and the attention to quality. (For example, I switched to Market America's highly bioavailable form of calcium (which is a drinkable isotonic, instead of a pill form), and felt the difference immediately. It was far more effective at helping me to rest at night.)

3. After three months of taking OPC-3, I realized that the seasonal allergies I had had all of my life were completely eliminated. I then went looking for other people's testimonials and found that many many people have had that same result.

4. My fretting had stopped. I stopped worrying that I wasn't doing enough for my health. I finally felt that I was doing what I needed to do.

5. My one sad realization, though, was that I could have helped my parents. I could have helped them improve their immune systems, feel better, and perhaps even live longer. And I am absolutely sure I could have helped my dad with his excruciating pain. But c'est la vie. They are certainly in a happier place and for me to dwell on what could have been is not fruitful. Instead I can focus on helping those who need it now.

In early 2005, cancer found my generation. One of my three sisters was diagnosed with breast cancer. We do have the scientific and medical communities to thank that it is such a survivable cancer today, and she continues to do very well, three years later.

What's in Our Genes
But what was going on in my family? Was it preventable? Market America, I discovered, offers a genetic profiling tool, called the Gene SNP. A "SNP," pronounced "snip," stands for single nucleotide polymorphism. Very simply, SNPs are genetic variations, and all of us have them. But we are all walking around not knowing which of our genes have identifiable variations, or what that means for us as individuals. Gaining that knowledge can help us understand some of the health issues we may be susceptible to, and what to do about it.

The SNPs that are screened by the profiling kit are variations in our genetic code that can be offset by supplementation. So, for example, if you have a genetic variation that may cause you to have bone density problems, or heart health problems, this tool will tell you that, and you can then be empowered to supplement in a more targeted fashion for that variation. In fact, the company will put together a supplement that is designed to help you manage your individual variations-- a supplement specific to your genetic code, also taking lifestyle into consideration. (That is a topic for another time, but it is worth noting that lifestyle plays a huge role. How you live, and what you put into your body, can have a dramatic effect on the expression of a gene... meaning, whether its intrinsic code is manifested in a way that causes an overt change in your health.)

For me, the most key piece of information I received from the profile was that I have a genetic variation that prevents my body from detoxifying properly. Our bodies naturally produce antioxidants and are designed to rid themselves of toxins... unless, such as in my case, there is a genetic variation.

Did both my mother and father have this genetic variation? And my grandparents? And my aunt? Who knows. Certainly, it is somewhere in the genetic code handed down to me. And now I can do something about it. For example, equipped with this knowledge, I take a double dose of OPC-3 every day, as well as another super-antioxidant, called Isotonix Maximum ORAC. These two super antioxidants have different but complementary properties. OPC-3 is a collection of natural compounds found in pine bark extract, red wine extract, and grapeseed extract, and Maximum ORAC is a blend of concentrated extracts from berries and cherries. By taking them together, I know I am arming my body against disease and rapid aging. And I would take these supplements as a defense against toxins found in the environment, even if I didn't have the information about my genetics.

The Next Chapter
There is a slow, but very real paradigm shift going on in the approach of Western medicine toward health. This shift is being engendered by a starving need of the public for natural alternatives to drugs. And the medical community is waking up to the notion that prevention and wellness are critical components to health management. There is even talk, today, that by 2010 all medical establishments will be required to include a wellness component in their practices.

Several years ago, Market America announced an advanced nutraceutical line, called nutraMetrix, for exclusive use by health practitioners. I truly love this company, because it is forward-thinking, intelligently-run, and is a frontrunner in utilizing new research and helping to pave the way for better health in our society. What better way than to equip our trusted, beloved physicians with the tools to make a real difference in their patients' lives?

In October of 2007 I took the next step and completed coursework to become certified as a Nutraceutical Consultant. This means I can work with practitioners in the medical community to help them implement these advanced, phamaceutical-grade nutraceuticals in their clinics. I can now help to empower physicians with real answers when their patients ask, "What can I do to improve my health?" Or, "Can you advise me on what supplements to take?" Or, "Cancer runs in my family. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances?" Or, "I'm allergic to pain medication. Is there an alternative to drugs?" And so on.

It's the most thrilling chapter of my life, to have come from a place of no answers, no resources, and a feeling of helplessness, to be in a position to help other people take control of their own health.

Now, as anyone who has come into contact with Market America knows, there is much more to it than supplements. As a product brokerage company, Market America constantly researches arenas where there is a high demand, looks to the horizon for what is coming, and finds top notch business partners and manufacturers to build high quality product lines for their different divisions. Why? Because they are a franchisor whose goal is to make it possible for anyone to become a franchisee and to own their own small business with this company. Some, like me, are enamored with health, while others might be more interested in building a business in cosmetics, skin care, weight management, cell phones and telecommunications, website sales (a division I also work in and enjoy tremendously), sports nutrition, home and garden products, pet care, or anti-aging. You can read more about the company here.

Thank you for reading! If you got this far, send me an email. You'll be added to my list of people who will receive special announcements and freebies. I also welcome questions and feedback.

To your health,

Jayna Locke