My Gut Story

In August 2023, my thriving, healthy, 19 yr old son, Mason, went to Mongolia on an LDS church mission. Almost as soon as he arrived, he got a severe bacterial infection in his gut. Over the next nine months, he was treated with many different antibiotics and treatments, which relieved his symptoms briefly, but he never completely healed. This was one of the most stressful times in our lives - not knowing if his appendix would rupture (one of the many diagnoses) while he was in the middle of nowhere, 14 hours away by bus from the nearest hospital. There was an actual chance he would die out there. He came home to San Diego for three months where he was treated with Western medicine, got “healthy” enough to leave again, and spent the next six months in Chicago where his health slowly diminished. By the end of that time, his illness was so severe that he couldn’t eat anything, was constantly fatigued and nauseous, and was withering away in bed - all with the pressure and guilt of not fulfilling his missionary duties. We sent him to the hospital, relieved he was in Chicago where the healthcare is great. Surely they would give him an IV and he could find some respite…. But No! They found nothing wrong with him and sent him back home with nothing! At this point, we took matters into our own hands, brought him home permanently, and started pursuing alternative healthcare. We were so desperate, we would do anything and pay any amount of money to get our boy healthy again. 

My niece had been healed by following a Functional Medicine approach, so we explored what they had to offer. I took Mason to a Functional Health Coach, a Functional Nutritionist, had energy work done, and bought a plethora of supplements for him to take. According to Functional Nutrition, every part of your body is connected, and Food is Medicine. Their first advice was to clean up Mason’s diet: no more Standard American Diet for him, or for any of us. This was going to be a Family Endeavor. Mason started improving quickly. He could eat clean healthy foods now without being sent to the bathroom or to bed. His energy was coming back and he could exercise again. However, after three months, if he cheated and ate any type of dairy, gluten, sugar, or seed oils, he would be wrecked for days. One of his mission friends, who came to visit us at this time, had gone through a similar experience. However, her treatment had actually healed her gut. She could eat McDonald’s and not die from it. Sick of just treating symptoms, and with this hope in mind, I was determined to HEAL HIS GUT. I did a deep plunge online into Functional Medicine Gut Treatments and came upon Dr. Jocker’s Digestive Health Restoration Program (I’d already been listening to his podcast, and I really liked everything he taught). After pouring over his program for days (in order to grasp it all - the format was not user friendly), Mason started my Gut Reset Program. Two months later - he was HEALED! His health was back: mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. His energy was amazing. And he could EAT without problems! Even “junk food”! Mason is determined to continue eating clean (as is our entire family), but if he wants to eat yogurt, ice cream, bread, or fast food, it does not wreck him. Hallelujah! 

The basics of my Gut Reset Program are the same as Dr. Jocker’s. However, I have changed the supplements, some of the timing, and have cleaned up the instructions. Good luck, I hope this has the same healing for you that it had for Mason!