In January 1996, Emma Ratkin was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing treatment, however, the diminutive survivor began to experience from a host of inexplicable ailments.
"In August 1996, I started losing weight," Emma says. "All my life, I weighed about 120 to 126 pounds, but in six months, I went from 126 to 80 pounds."
Troubled by the severe weight loss, Emma was referred to 15 specialists, who found no conventional cause of the problem, so they concluded that the problem was not physical—it was psychological.
In 1999 after exhausting all conventional medical options, Emma’s primary care physician suggested that Emma try acupuncture. The suggestion proved providential. During her first session, the acupuncturist suggested that Emma might find help from a young physician named Dr. Dale Guyer.
The conversation changed her life. Emma promptly scheduled a consultation.
"We discovered many problems," says Emma of her initial visits with Dr. Guyer. "The weight loss was caused by a Candida fungus embedded in my intestines which was not letting my body absorb any nutrients at all. He started me on nutritional IVs right away. However, during the three-year period before I saw Dr. Guyer, I developed many other problems—chronic fatigue, low thyroid, hyperglycemia, anemia, immune dysfunction among other issues."
The road to Dr. Guyer was long and often painful. For example in an effort to locate the source of Emma’s gastrointestinal complaints, specialists performed invasive surgery to determine if scarring from a hysterectomy at age 29 perhaps was behind the inexplicable weight loss and fatigue. The result: nothing.
In stark contrast, Emma quickly recalls how extensive and thorough Dr. Guyer was during her initial visits and at follow-up.
"The 15 specialists did lab tests that produced little information, especially when compared to Dr. Guyer’s extensive lab testing that was about 12 pages long," remembers Emma. "He tested everything you could possibly test."
During her initial consultation, Dr. Guyer suggested that Emma begin IV therapy that day to address underlying nutrient deficiencies and help promote immune function.
"I felt better that day, just getting nutrients in my body," says Emma, who added under Dr. Guyer’s care she "…started feeling significantly better in about three months."
To address the Candida, Dr. Guyer prescribed the antifungal Diflucan and tweaked Emma’s diet, while also adding a compound medication called Mary’s Magic Mouthwash to soothe her throat and promote healing—a tool that Emma continues to use. She also underwent acupuncture treatments and began supplementing her diet with potassium, thyroid, adrenals, vitamin B12, along with other vitamins and minerals.
Over time, Emma’s condition improved, and she began to regain weight.
"I am up to about 98 pounds," she says proudly. "I eat all the time. I did then, too, yet was starving to death obviously."
Emma believes that Dr. Guyer’s individualized focus and undivided attention played a major role in both discovery of the root cause of her illness and recovery.
"He actually listened to what my symptoms were," she stresses. "The first visit lasted almost two hours. When I first when in to see him, he told me, ‘If I can help to make you well, it is because of me—it is with God’s help. God has showed me what to do.’ That made me fell well. He also gave me renewed hope. Other specialists had said there was nothing they could do. You can’t take away people’s hope. Dr. Guyer listens."
Today, Emma returns to visit Dr. Guyer for follow-up and nutritional IVs when she begins to feel exhausted and depleted, adding that the IVs "…help me more than anything."
As for her quality of life, she is candid and clear.
"I would have died if I had not found Dr. Guyer," she states. "I really don’t think I would be alive today, because my body was actually starving to death. People I worked with thought for sure I was going to die. Now, I feel that I can now get and do whatever I want! I consider myself very fortunate."
"So many people have gone to many doctors and spent a lot of money, but still do not have an answer to their problems," she believes. "If you are sick and cannot find an answer, you need to visit Dr. Guyer. If you address the problem earlier, you don’t have all these other things wrong as well."