“I became a convert for life”

By: Patricia Haney

For the first 42 years of my life, I ate your typical American diet: meat, dairy, and loads of sugar! I cooked everything in oil, and covered everything with cheese, cream cheese, and/or sugar. I ate candy or sweets when I drove, read, watched TV. . . I even had candy in my pockets at work so I could pop some in my mouth here and there. I was an addict! I was overweight (bordering obese) and starting to have medical problems.

I am one of those people who don’t trust doctors. I had some bad experiences in the past, so I have avoided them at all costs most my life. But eventually I could no longer ignore the things that were happening in my body, and I went to the doctor. It was 2012, and we were living in Georgia, when I went to the OBGYN who diagnosed severe endometriosis. Two surgeries later, I had no more female reproductive organs left. If only I knew then what I know now!

Fast forward through years of vertigo and strange happenings to 2015. I was sitting down with my family watching a movie when I got a strange sensation. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t . . . I fell back down to the couch. I tried to speak, but it came out slurred. Everyone, including me, thought I was stroking like my mom who had had 5 strokes. I was rushed to the ER where they quickly came to the same conclusion. The results of the MRI came back . . . no stroke. Well that was good news right? “Then what happened to me?” I asked. There was zero explanation.

I am not a hypochondriac, and I know I did not imagine what happened. I knew something was wrong even though the doctor couldn’t explain it. As I was leaving with my “clean bill of health,” he said, “You might want to follow up with a neurologist. You had some lesions on your brain, but a few lesions are normal at your age.” I left the hospital and thought, “Whatever.” And my trust in doctors plummeted even more.

In 2016 when we were living in Alabama, I finally went to another doctor where I was told I had high blood pressure and should go on medication. I ignored him and finally went to a neurologist. After tests, tests, and more tests, my doctor showed me my MRI, put her hand on my knee and said, “It looks like we are dealing with multiple sclerosis. Even though there is no cure, don’t be afraid, we have lots of new drugs to slow down the advancement of the disease.”

I did NOT want to be dependent of medications the rest of my life for MS and high blood pressure. So I went home and prayed and prayed that if there were another way, could I please be led to it. I also prayed for an open mind to what I found. Then I went to the temple and prayed some more. I decided medications would ONLY be my very last desperate option.

At first I felt like I was being led in a million different directions. After months of research and listening to different people, I started narrowing in on a few diets that, although they were different, all said eliminate sugar and gluten. So I did. But I was still in a lot of pain and not feeling any better. I continued to pray and research for several more months while I constantly changed my diet by adding and subtracting things.

I eventually started narrowing in on a vegan diet, but at the same time I thought vegans were crazy . . . how did they get protein and calcium!?!? I came from a large (in more ways than one, if you know what I mean) family, who love to eat. I have a vegan brother, but he was the kooky animal rights guy and not very health-minded. But veganism kept coming into my mind, so I guess I was ready to finally understand the truth.

One night when I was home alone and the house was quiet, I was prompted to read the Word of Wisdom. And for the first time I actually understood all of it with new eyes and clarity. How had I not understood D&C 89:12-15 before? How come no one talks about the phrase, ”it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used…”??? I read it at least three times and was amazed at how I never understood that before. Then I got to thinking, everyone at church always quoted verse 12, but left out 13 . . . there’s even a semicolon! Then it’s repeated again in verses 14-15 . . . with another semicolon . . . mind blown!

I officially joined the ranks of vegan; however, I still ate French fries, chips and fried my veggies in oil. I was always told olive oil was a necessary healthy fat . . . wait, not olive oil but coconut oil . . . never mind it is olive oil again. And I needed omega-3, and bone broth, and eggs . . . so maybe I’ll go just mainly vegetarian. And for some reason . . . I still couldn’t lose weight and didn’t feel much better. Then my mother got sick while she was visiting me in Alabama and died two weeks later. I stopped trying for several months.

During the time my mother was sick and I was caring for her, my husband lost his job and found another one out of state. So he moved without us, and I stayed behind. Not to mention we couldn’t sell our new house. I have always been an emotional eater, a comfort eater, and a bored eater. I was never a “eat when you’re hungry eater” because I was never hungry. When all that stress hit all at once, I went into a tailspin of food. I never ate meat or dairy, but just about everything else was fair game.

Eventually, we all joined my husband in Missouri and things settled down. Now I was ready for the Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) info. While visiting my lifelong friend Ashley, she introduced me to “her personal and family” doctor, Dr. Michael Greger and his book How Not to Die. Ashley had been a vegetarian most of her life, then turned vegan years ago, and was now WFPB. Then my visiting teacher, who was also WFPB, told me about Dr. McDougall and The Starch Solution when she heard of my struggles. They both told me to watch What the Health. After watching What the Health I started binge watching Netflix documentaries on the subject. Then I went to YouTube and researched WFPB diets.

D&C 89:4 tells us:

In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation.

This now made so much more sense. Finally, I had found some doctors I could trust . . . and I became a convert for life.

I now feel amazing! My blood pressure has decreased and is no longer an issue. I have had no more MS relapses or symptoms, and I feel better than I have for decades! My diet is probably not 100% perfect, but I am still trying my best. The weight is slowly coming off, even though my body is trying to hold on to the fat for dear life. My husband has become a vegetarian and no longer suffers from heartburn and arthritis. My son, who is getting ready to go into the Army, also tries to eat a WFPB diet most of the time. I try to be a WFPB missionary, but most people are not ready to hear it yet. Unfortunately, like me, they will probably need to become sick first, and they still might not listen then either.

I will not lie, there are times when it is hard, like family or church gatherings, but when I feel weak, I pray and watch a WFPB video to motivate me. And sometimes I am tired or lazy and don’t get all my greens in. But if I fail, which I do on seldom occasions, I don’t let that get me down. I get back up and eat my spinach!

Most of all, I thank my Heavenly Father for answering my prayers. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to God for opening my mind and heart and giving me “wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” (D&C 89:19).

Tricia (44) has 6 daughters (4 are stepdaughters) and 1 son. She also has a 6-year-old grandson (eldest stepdaughter’s)! She currently lives in the Kansas City area (Jackson County). She has a Bachelor’s degree in Art History, although she works as a caregiver for the elderly with Alzheimer’s. Within the next 6 months she plans on obtaining a Commercial Driver’s License and going over the road as a long-haul truck driver with her husband because they are almost empty-nesters. She is hoping to start a YouTube vlog about traveling as a WFPB lifestyler . . . if she can figure out how to do it!!!