I awoke that morning alone in the house and realized I was so sick and listless that I had laid down the night before and fallen asleep with the doors unlocked and all the lights burning. My husband was away on business. I realized how vulnerable my sickness had made me. After six years, I knew it was time to act.
Almost 20 years ago, my husband and I moved to Houston, looking forward to living on the warm, sunny Texas coast. Six weeks after our move, I began hacking with a cold. Then bronchitis clutched my chest. A vicious cycle began: cold, bronchitis, antibiotics, cold, bronchitis, antibiotics…
Though our nest was empty, there were numerous demands closing in on me, ranging from staying in touch with our college-age children, making new friends, and working with the congregation where my husband was pastor. But the more I tried to keep up, the slower I became.
Six years—yes, six years—later, my husband went overseas, and I decided to go to Alabama, get my aging parents, and drive them to Niagara Falls. My mother and I both caught a bad cold on the trip. Three weeks later, my elderly mother was completely recovered, but I was sicker than ever.
People could have tagged me the “hankie lady”, because everywhere I went I carried my handkerchief, not as a fashion touch, but because I really had to use it to dab my constant sniffle. My attitude about Houston darkened. Honestly, so did my opinion of doctors. I went from physician to physician. “I have this problem, and I don’t seem to ever get better,” I told each of them. All I ever got was another round of antibiotics.
By now, life had picked up its pace, and was zipping. I was the proud grandmother of several beautiful children. Our own kids had moved to Houston to join us. Where initially there had been only my husband and me in Houston, eventually there would be 12 of us! I needed all the energy I could muster to keep up with a large family, the demands on me as a pastor’s wife, and the needs of my own aging parents, far away in Alabama. But my family could see me sagging. They wondered what the problem was. So did I.
My husband had had to leave town again, and I still had not recovered from my “Niagara cold”. That was the night I collapsed on my bed, and awoke the next morning to a silent house with open doors and blazing lights. I knew I would have to do something different—even drastic.
I drug myself out to the front yard to pick up a newspaper. I sat down to read it, and an advertisement caught my eye. It was a list of symptoms. People suffering from such illnesses should call Dr. Steven Hotze, recommended the ad. I had every one of the symptoms. I called immediately.
Hope awaited me when I visited Dr. Hotze for the first time. Over the half dozen years, I had despaired over ever recovering my health. Now, he and his staff radiated with encouragement that I would get over my chronic illnesses.
I was tested for allergies and low thyroid. For years—going all the way back to childhood—I would be gripped by sudden, inexplicable and excruciating headaches. Dr. Hotze’s careful testing of allergies brought to light the fact that I am allergic to corn-based products. My headaches had been triggered by popcorn roasting and foods sweetened with corn syrup.
The first thing to go after seeing Dr. Hotze was my migraines. No corn, no headaches! It was that simple, but it took a caring physician to probe deep enough to discover the problem.
Dr. Hotze also asked questions no other physician seemed even to have thought about. He wanted to know about my thyroid. Again, he and his team worked with me in identifying my thyroid deficiency, and working with me to improve it. But Dr. Hotze did not stop there. He cleared up the infections brought on by my constant use of antibiotics. As Dr. Hotze continued to treat me, over time the infection, yeast, and low energy slipped away. I began to be truly well—not just patched over. I feel good, and get things done. Just last night, I participated in physical fitness classes at a gym where my daughter-in-law teaches, my daughter at my side.
Neither of them would have believed the woman they knew years ago would ever have been capable of working out at a gym. But here I am, a grandmother, able to keep up with, and in some cases outpace, younger women.
I am still allergic to Houston’s air and take natural drops Dr. Hotze provided to help my resistance. But no one can call me the “hankie lady” anymore. I am almost never sick!
Yet there was still something not totally right. In my 30s, I had had extensive surgery. As a result, I had been on HRT for many years. When I first started seeing Dr. Hotze, I had no idea he was studying the relationship between HRT and other health issues. Again, he sought answers to questions not occurring to the other doctors I had visited.
Dr. Hotze suggested I start taking natural progesterone. A few weeks later, he recommended I replace my HRT with natural bio-identical estrogens. The thought troubled me. I was not sure I could get along without my HRT.
Finally, I agreed to give Dr. Hotze’s suggestion a try. Almost immediately, I was amazed at the change. I had been wondering why, as I aged, I felt “blue.” That was not my emotional outlook when I was young. But about three days into the bio-identical, I woke up! I was like myself again.
“What has gotten into Irene?” my daughter and mother asked one another in a phone conversation. “She’s so happy!”
This does not mean life does not have its ups and downs, challenges and stresses. I might get aggravated, but I am “blue” no more. Hardly anyone is happier about this than my husband. I believe in God, and that He hears us when we pray. I had asked Him for healing. Sometimes, it comes from God’s direct touch, and sometimes God ministers healing to us through other people.
My healing gift from God is Dr. Steven Hotze and his dedication to cure the problem, and not merely treat symptoms. It was no “accident” that on that lonely, grim day I just “happened” to pick up a newspaper and read Dr. Hotze’s ad. God answers prayer!
We are blessed to have Hotze Health and Wellness Center now in two locations, with other fine doctors to consult. This means the blessing can be shared with many other people who need this gift of hope.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms that Irene had, please contact us TODAY so that we can help you get your life back!