scribed special shoes that cost thousands of dollars. In addition to the
obvious difficulty this posed for a man who had been extremely
active, it was restricting him from regaining any part of his health,
and as he said to me more than once, it was even embarrassing. The
result of these popular devices was that Johnny could no longer walk.
The first day of therapy with Johnny yielded a few unsteady but
pain-free steps, primarily utilizing manual biofeedback. Within two
more days, he was able to take upwards of 100 steps. More improve-
ments came in the following weeks. Performing these exercises bare-
foot was part of my approach and something Johnny enjoyed. As he
was able to venture outdoors, he wore a comfortable $7 pair of flat
sandals, which replaced his expensive, embarrassing footgear.
Other therapy included sitting outside, a place he previously
would only go when he had to go to a hospital or dentist, for some
healthy sunrays, riding a stationary bicycle and eventually walking
up and down steps.
To help improve Johnny’s nervous system, I recommended cer-
tain eye-hand coordination activities. This was easy enough since it
meant playing the guitar to stimulate the small muscles and nerves in
the fingers and hands. I also got him a large pad and felt-tip marker
to start writing. He began making little sketches and large letters and,
as he could see better, eventually words — then one day, a new song.
In addition to these physical activities, Johnny’s body chemistry
needed help. He was a diabetic, but by improving his diet — finding
the foods that best matched his specific needs — his blood-sugar lev-
els improved greatly. I worked with his home chef to develop an
organic kitchen and focus on real, healthy foods, including more veg-
etables, fruits and quality protein foods, while reducing refined foods
and sugars.
The result was his nervous-system function and circulation
improved significantly. Along with improved muscle activity, Johnny
was starting to feel better. But the problem with the prescribed drugs
remained.
The medical approach was to name the end-result conditions he
had — many the result of diabetes, itself a secondary/preventable con-
dition — and treat these conditions with drugs. This philosophy is so
346 • IN FITNESS AND IN HEALTH