First-hand experience of overcoming the seemingly impossible.
People who survive against all odds have five things in common.
My Story
As a highly athletic 21-year-old, I went in for a routine, two-hour surgery only three months after getting married. Severely overdosed with anesthesia, I finally woke up three days later at a hospital across town. While my newlywed husband and I were grateful I was still alive; we had no idea the severity of the damage. Not only had the anesthesia nearly killed me and damaged some of my organs, but the surgeon had created so much damage in my head, jaw, ears, skull, and brain that his actions forever changed the course of our lives.
My injuries and prognosis from that surgery were written in black ink in my medical file,
“Permanent and progressive, with no cure or treatment.”
although I refused to let these words sink into my soul.
My husband, Todd, and I began our journey from one doctor, specialist, surgeon, and neurosurgeon to the next, praying someone would have a way to fix the damage. After searching our city and state, we widened our search to the West coast, then the nation. Even the most renowned surgeons we could find across the entire United States agreed with my permanent and devastating diagnosis.
Desperate for answers, we widened our search to include the continent, and then Europe, Asia, and the entire world. We literally searched the planet for hope. But in return, we received the same, unthinkable mantra regarding my condition.
“Permanent and progressive, with no cure or treatment.”
As the damage progressed, I lost my ability to function; I required 24-hour care, was bedridden, unable to sit up by myself and was on hospice. The best specialists we could find repeated to me these same horrifying words,
“Today is your best day. The damage will continue to progress. Go home and make a Will.”
I was given less than five years to survive. And at the eight-year mark, my chances of survival decreased to “statically zero.” To many of my doctors, I was written off as if I were already dead.
Death of a Belief System
Western Medicine had caused this unthinkable damage, and when we turned to them in desperate need for help, they responded with no treatment, cure, or hope. No therapy or surgery, no medication, or plan. The surgeon who damaged me admitted he had done so but that he was well within Western medicine's "standards of practice."
Apparently, I'm not the only one. I'm not the first and certainly not the last to be damaged so severely at the hands of Western Medicine. Permanent harm, injury, dismemberment (the loss of body parts or loss of functions), along with death are all considered "acceptable" risks to not only our doctors and healthcare practitioners but to the entire system of Western Medicine. Not only is this part of the plan, but they're knowingly causing injuries for which they have no known treatment or a way to cure. I had no idea that was even possible.
This reality took time to process. The people and organizations I trusted with my life turned out to be the very ones who disabled me, and (unless by some miracle) their actions will ultimately take my life.
Western Medicine was not only something I trusted but something I was passionate about. I had planned to administer its help to others. Only weeks before the accident on the operating table, I was studying for my college finals, well on my way to fulfilling my dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. I had been all in - a true believer.
The institute that I'd been taught to believe as "health" and "care" turned out to be the exact opposite. This painful truth was more than shocking. In many ways, the loss was more like a death... ripping through me with the painful stages of grief, including denial and anger. This was the death of a belief system and a seismic shift, like tectonic plates shattering a foundation of my world.
Beyond the broken trust, I now endure years of painful, daily suffering, along with astronomical expenses (more than four times our monthly mortgage payment in out-of-pocket medical expenses for more than a decade) that we're left to handle completely on our own. There is no help, no government handout, no assistance, no medical lawsuit or financial restitution, and no one to assist us as we carry this overwhelming burden. Not a single penny was given to us over this time.
All of these things are up to us, not only to endure but somehow figure out on our own. Truly, the financial burden falls on my husband, Todd, who is the sole provider for us, while I'm unable to move more than a few feet from my bed before falling, and frequently not cognizant enough to read or write daily.
My dreams, plans, and hopes I created for my life were destroyed during that routine surgery. Whatever amount of a short life I had left would never be the same.
Years In Medical Quarantine
The continued degradation in my brain, ears, organs, and body cause catastrophic and frequently life-threatening consequences to movement, sound, light, and other basic parts of life, forcing me into medical quarantine to stay alive.
My love of traveling, and exploration, along with my ultra-social personality, leaves me longing with all my heart to be around those I love and all the fabulous happenings of life. Yet my body, like a prison itself, prevents me from not only leaving the house but from having many visitors or even frequent conversations, in person or over the phone. Leaving me isolated from everything I know and love.
A born athlete and a competitive gymnast since I could walk, all this time in bed is yet another level of seemingly specifically chosen and particularly cruel torture.
Hour after long hour, month after month, I spend most of my days alone, in silence, in a room I rarely leave. Though the windows have no bars, and the doors aren't locked from the inside, these four walls feel like a prison I can't escape. My body, unable to move as I tell it, seems like I'm shackled to this bed and serving a life sentence of solitary confinement for a crime I didn't commit. Simultaneously, the doctors responsible for this have waiting rooms full of their potential next victims.
Something Must Change
With all this time alone in silence, my mind oscillates between going crazy with frustration and the ideas of "it's not fair" to the hope of finding a way... against all odds.
Thankfully, I know a little something about "impossible." My determined and competitive spirit, refined through years of gymnastics, grants me the ability to get up after every fall, to know the sweat, dedication, and blisters of hard work, and to make the seemingly impossible a daily routine. When things get tough, I don't give up; I find a way. I don't stay down and feel sorry for myself... I raise my eyes, lift my chin, take a deep breath, pull myself to my feet, and I learn to fly higher.
"Impossible" is not absolute truth; it's merely an excuse for someone not to try, but a goal to be surpassed for those who know that all things are possible.
Nothing To Lose
With Western Medicine's hopeless response, I can't continue to go back and hear their same devastating mantra, so I desperately turn to options I never considered before.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" - Albert Einstein
I had a hard time calling it "medicine" and an even harder time believing it could do something that Western Medicine couldn't do. But after our worldwide search coming up empty-handed, I was finally ready to give alternative medicine a try.
Surprisingly, from my first acupuncture treatment, I was shocked at the positive responses my body made. I wasn't cured or instantly healed, but I left with a calm I hadn't felt in a while and my vital organs were functioning with increased stability.
Over the next few months, I gained small, physical functions that none of my doctors believed was possible. Each of these tiny victories made my isolated world a little bit better, like a glimmer of sunlight in the darkness.
Digging Deep, Gaining Perspective
With renewed hope and an increase in my eyesight and brain function, allowing me to read more frequently, I poured myself into my Bible. I read and re-read the Bible, cover to cover, repeatedly. This blessed me with the big-picture view, the structure and outline of the Bible, and a place to set my deeper studies. I also got the close-up, deep, and meticulous views (through my Greek and Hebrew Bible studies) that blessed me with even more depth and meaning to the big picture. This balance of Bible study changed my perspective about my health, the world, and my life.
Balance & The Five Elements
Balance was also a repeated goal in my acupuncture and alternative medical treatments. A whole new perspective and vocabulary came with each treatment, along with small physical improvements as well. I learned of the balance of Yin and Yang and the constantly dynamic balance of the Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal). I became fascinated by these elements and their intricate balances, especially as I simultaneously saw these five elements repeatedly occurring in my Bible studies.
Achieving The Impossible
Given only five years to survive and the "statically zero" chances of survival at the eight-year mark... I've achieved the impossible.
Eleven years later, I'm not only alive and surviving; I'm thriving.
Still unable to leave the house much or be independent with my daily care, I'm more functional now than my doctors believed was possible.
Most days, I'm able to get dressed, walk around the house (and on good days, walk our property), occasionally I can clean, prepare meals, take care of our family, and be creative through art and writing. These are blessings far beyond words.
I learned that to survive, I had to thrive first, not the other way around.
Discovering Others
Through support groups, blogs, and so many first-hand stories, I discovered that, sadly, my story and suffering is not at all unusual. I'm merely one of at least 750,000 people each year (just in the United States) who are left damaged at the hands of Western Medicine. I noticed too that the far majority of those with serious injuries never learn to thrive again. But more importantly, a precious few of them do!
Whether through injury, illness, accident, or born with catastrophic challenges, there is always a remnant of people who, like myself, learn to thrive in the midst of the seemingly impossible.
It takes years of digging, but after a decade of study, I've discovered hundreds of remarkable stories of people defying the odds and accomplishing what Western Medicine deemed "impossible." People from all walks of life, all types of challenges, diseases, accidents, or struggles, from all over the world, each with their own path, they find a way to overcome, survive, and even thrive against the nearly insurmountable odds against them.
My heart thrills at each of these beautiful stories. I study each of them and compare them to each other and my own journey.
I learn about two different women who each only have half a brain (yes, literally half their skull is empty), Yet (though science can't explain it) they're both moving the limbs on the opposite side of their body. They're walking and even swimming - using both legs and arms. I learn of first-hand experiences of dozens of stroke victims who are actively renewing movement and strength to their once paralyzed limbs. They're walking with a once paralyzed leg and feeding themselves with a once paralyzed hand and arm. I discover hundreds of cancer survivors, from every kind of cancer, who've experienced radical remissions. There are numerous survivors with completely clean scans after stage four, inoperable brain tumors, and other terminal cancers. To which their doctors have no explanation.
Story after story, I discover amazing people thriving under nearly unthinkable challenges, each with their own specific circumstances, yet I can't help but wonder if there's a connection.
Are there similar things we all do that help us accomplish what others deem impossible?
Self-Similar Patterns
As I connect with and study hundreds of these stories, slowly, a pattern reveals itself, like a fractal unveiling its beautiful, self-similar repetition, I find common threads.
There are specific things we all have in common. Choices we've made, individually, yet, at some level, we've all done these same things.
At first, I wonder if this is possible. Can all these people reach the same ideas across the planet? And can there be this many things in common? Over the years, as I look deeper into as many cases as possible, my answer is a resounding, "Yes."
“It isn’t the fear of death but the drive to thrive that separates the probable from the perceived impossible.”
The Five Traits
After a decade of study, I've learned there are five common traits of people who thrive when the odds are stacked against them. Not only do there happen to be five things, but each of these choices resonates with the energy of one of the Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth & Metal).
1. Take Responsibility (Fire Element)
At some point during our individual struggle, we choose to take control of our own health. We no longer rely on doctors, surgeons, or anyone else to solve this for us; we decide to make our health our responsibility.
Everyone else's opinions (even those of doctors, specialists, and surgeons) are just opinions. It's merely someone's guess, view, or judgment based on what they've been taught to believe, but it's not necessarily based on facts or supreme wisdom.
With the ownership of this responsibility, we further our connection and listen to our bodies more. Many describe this as energetic or gut wisdom, while some use the subconscious (like the practices of The Emotion Code or The Body Code) to reveal the answers that our bodies already know. We research further, dig deeper, and are willing to blaze further down less-traveled roads. We learn what we can, and we make our own decisions based on what's best for ourselves at each step along this journey.
This creative process is frequently where we explore alternative methods, ideas, and medicine we hadn't considered before. The world of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other alternative practices contain more avenues than I ever imagined. There are multiple types of Acupuncture, which usually includes the practices of Cupping, Moxibustion, Chinese Herbs, Acupressure, and far more energy work than I knew existed. There are also options of Applied Kinesiology, Hormone Balancing, Earthing, Exercise, Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy, Oxygen, and Ozone Therapy, Reiki, and so much more.
This initial act of taking responsibility extends (as does the Fire Element) into the emotional and spiritual realms. Taking responsibility, we observe and alter our lives' emotions and spiritual aspects that need to change. Then we can fan the flames of those we know are most beneficial.
The organ at the center of the Fire Element is the heart. It holds the responsibility of circulating the blood and providing nourishment to all the internal organs. The Fire Element's energy is just as critical and is known for its love, passion, and creativity.
It's critical to surround ourselves with love. Even if that means excluding naysayers from our lives, it's better to have a few who love than a crowd who doubts.
Our passions are more powerful than most realize. If possible, we regularly do something we're passionate about and even better, we make it a creative endeavor. I happen to find joy in painting and creating art; I add color to my life (and my walls). I surround myself (like a warm hug) with things that make me smile.
Invite those who make you laugh to contact you frequently. Get outside, use your senses, and touch nature. Love, creativity, and joy have energetic power that can transform.
Responsibility can ignite creativity as we blaze new trails, expand our territory, and seek answers outside the box (this is true for our physical bodies, along with our emotional and spiritual aspects as well).
2. Reason To Live (Wood Element)
In every case I could thoroughly research, we all have a reason to live. Something larger, greater, and beyond ourselves.
Specific reasons vary by person but range from a spouse or children to an unfinished life project unique to them (like writing a book or research in a field few others explore). Many have a greater purpose in life because of their relationship with God.
As we find our reason to live, we water it and encourage it to grow. Focusing on it as our lifelong goal keeps us motivated and empowers us to reach beyond others' expectations.
The energy of the Wood Element is strong and determined, yet flexible as it bends around rocks and obstacles on its way to the light. Like a seed pressing through the soil, it seems to rise from the appearance of death (in the winter) but burst forth with an abundance of life.
There are numerous stories of people overcoming seemingly impossible conditions (such as the Nazi concentration camps). Their physical strength may have been weaker than others, yet their reason to live was so much stronger. Several of these accounts can be found in Viktor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" (1946).
Facing what appears to be insurmountable obstacles, we can rise toward the light. Our determination and focus on our reason to live keeps us grounded and growing in the direction we desire.
3. Radical Changes in Diet (Earth Element)
All of us radically change what we eat, usually including a dramatic increase in vegetables (especially leafy greens) along with a decrease (or elimination) of processed foods.
Most of us also include some form of herbs or supplements, and many (like myself) often work with energy professionals to help us personalize the diet to our body's needs each season. As with all professional opinions, we never lose the responsibility of ultimately deciding for ourselves what to take or not.
Foods not only have macro and micronutrients, but they also contain energy and energetic temperatures. Energy and their temperatures refer to the heating or cooling effect a food has on the body once its ingested. Each of the Five Elements is associated with specific organs and one of the five flavors (sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty). Food is a powerful tool to help balance your individual imbalances. This is one of many reasons it's helpful to get the professional opinion of an Acupuncturist, Holistic Nutritionist, or someone working with Traditional Chinese Medicine or another alternative field.
Unlike what I was taught growing up, "we are what we eat," I now believe,
"We are what we absorb."
If our body can't absorb the nutrients we're eating, then they're not helping us as much as we need. This is where IV Therapy can play a large role in our healing process. For me, high dose Vitamin C, along with Hydrogen Peroxide, and an array of vitamins (tailored to my specific blood work), helped keep me alive until my intestines were able to absorb nutrients again on their own.
Once able to absorb nutrients, we pack in as many organic nutrients as possible. One of the best ways to gain large amounts of nutrients (without eating pound after pound of food each day) is juicing. Juicing doesn't eliminate any of the vegetables from your diet; it simply adds to them. The Gerson Institute is one of many places using juicing as a staple in their tools to help people go beyond normal expectations.
"We are what we absorb" includes physical things like food, toxins, and air quality, but also spiritual and emotional things like energy, people, media, and attitudes. Each of these contains energy and can influence our body's physical strength, along with its ability to heal.
Being conscious of what we absorb each day is the beginning of making the changes we need to optimize our body's ability to overcome and make the seemingly impossible a daily victory.
4. Releasing Negative & Increasing Positive Energy (Metal Element)
Letting go of what no longer serves us can be challenging at first. But when your life is on the line, we're more willing to make the necessary changes.
There is energy in everything, so all aspects of our lives are assessed in this purge, from people to emotions, along with how we spend our time and how we choose to perceive the world.
All things, including thoughts and emotions, contain energy.
Our physical body is extraordinarily complex, and (contrary to Western beliefs of segregation and separate systems), we're interconnected beings that intertwine our spiritual or emotional components. If there's an imbalance in one area, it affects the others. For example, if we hold onto negative emotions (and repeatedly play them in our minds), that energy is also held somewhere in the body. (It frequently, but not always, lodges in the organs associated with the Element of that emotion.) Held, negative energy congests and blocks the positive flow of balanced health. The longer and more frequently we focus on those emotions, the more that energy block grows, and imbalance (ill-health) becomes potentially catastrophic.
Learning to release these trapped emotions is critical. This includes many options, such as prayer, meditation, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping Therapy, Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Craniosacral Therapy, Acupuncture, and The Emotion Code, to name a few.
The Metal Element is associated with release, like leaves on a tree in the autumn. I used to love the colors of autumn but felt sorry for the cold and naked trees. Until I learned, it's not the leaves that abandon the tree, but the signal comes from within the tree for the leaves to let go. The tree knows it needs to conserve water and energy, so it lets go of what is no longer necessary while storing up what it benefits from the most. Making the tree stronger and more prepared to survive the storm. Perspective changes everything, and release can be beautiful and powerful, demonstrating our wisdom and strength.
As we let go, we open and allow space where we can now store positive energy. Prayer, Bible Reading, Bible Study, Mindfulness Meditation, and a Gratitude Journal can go a long way toward replenishing our energy storehouses. Writing down anything you're thankful for is a beautiful practice. Not only does it help you look for these blessings throughout every day, but it blesses you with a collection of gratitudes that can inspire you on days when you struggle the most.
5. Spiritual Connection (Water Element)
Though our beliefs may vary, we each hold a strong spiritual belief and our connection to this becomes stronger.
It's common for many to come to know God and begin to read the Bible. Not in a religious sense, but a profound personal sense. A daily walk with our creator.
A personal relationship with God grants us many blessings, including peace (no matter the physical struggle or outcome), greater wisdom (beyond this earthly realm), and absolute truth (far beyond what many doctors, scientists, or specialists may ever know).
The Water Element is known for its depths and wisdom. No matter the storm on the surface, as we go deep, our waters become calm. We are called not to be deceived (even from our doctors and worldly perspectives) but to know the truth. The best way to do this is to go deeper, spend time in God's Word (the Bible), and seek truth with all our hearts.
When we seek power far greater than ourselves and know Jesus as our personal savior, we are humbled, grateful, and blessed. We gain a larger and more eternal perspective, allowing us to be blessed both here and the hereafter.
Want to know God, and know peace, truth, and wisdom? Check out my latest blog post, "Know God, Know Peace." It may be the most important thing you ever read.
An Overview: Energetic and Spiritual Blessings
These are the five traits of people who overcome all odds (and their associated Element).
Take Responsibility (Fire Element)
Reason To Live (Wood Element)
Radical Changes in Diet (Earth Element)
Releasing Negative & Increasing Positive Energy (Metal Element)
Spiritual Connection (Water Element)
For all the good that can come from Western Medicine's emergency care, when it comes to prevention or restoring imbalances (ill-health) to a healthy balance, they're missing almost all the components. Having studied Western Medicine in college (intending to become an orthopedic surgeon), I know personally how Western Medicine segregates the body into separate systems, like a machine with isolated, independent parts, limited to the narrow restraints of biochemistry.
Thankfully, the rest of the world understands that the body is intricately formed, with interconnected and dynamically changing balances that permeate the physical body, the spiritual being, the mind (both the conscious and the unconscious), along with our emotions. Like an intricately woven web, we can't tug on one of these strands and not have it ripple through all the others. We are far more complex, but also far more powerful than Western Medicine leads us to believe.
When I consider my decade of study and compare the hundreds of stories of people who defy all the odds, these five traits remain the common threads. Interestingly, of all the actions taken to survive, only the diet and supplements are physical. All the other changes are energetic (and yet food and supplements contain energy as well).
If we limit ourselves to the merely physical and biological world, we miss almost all of the things that hundreds of people did to survive against all odds.
For those of us who've overcome the "impossible," most of the things we have in common have more to do with energy, spirituality, and perspective than with the merely physical. For me, this speaks volumes about the human spirit and our body's potential to overcome what so many believe to be "impossible" odds.
We have more power than we realize.
Our bodies are more capable of healing than we give them credit. This excites me and thrills me to know we are so much more than biology or interchangeable parts. We are miraculous and purposefully interwoven beings, capable of overcoming the impossible and making it normal.
"Nothing is impossible. It may be improbable or unlikely, and most may believe it cant’ be done…until it’s accomplished by someone willing to see beyond the limits of opinion." - Lori Grimmett
Encourage Others
These are my personal experiences, along with what hundreds of people across the planet have discovered as well. I am in no way assuring that if you follow these five choices, you'll pull through anything. That, of course, is between you and God. Yet I hope to encourage you that when things get bad and all the odds are stacked against you, someone out there has probably beaten those odds. I believe you can, as well. Anything is possible through Christ, who gives us strength.
Learn more about the Five Elements.
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I, Lori Grimmett, and this website, do not claim to provide, and I do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatments. The function of this information is to share my personal experience for information and educational use only. The statements made here are my personal opinions. You should not use this information in place of professional medical care.
I tell you these things, not to convince you, but to spark curiosity and encourage you to dig deep and explore these issues for yourself.
As always, don't take my word for it.
Examine the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are true.
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica,
for they received the word with eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
- Acts 17:11
Written by Lori Grimmett, a student of Biblical studies for more than 40 years,
and of Biblical theology and eschatology for more than 25 years.
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