Emily’s Cipro Recovery Story

My name is Emily. I am a 43 year old mother of six. I live in South Louisiana. I love to be outside, especially with my family. One of my favorite things to do is hike. I also love gardening and taking care of the animals on our small farm.
On April 12th of 2020, I took my first ciprofloxacin pill for a UTI. I haven’t taken many antibiotics in my life and so I was concerned about side effects. I chose not to google this antibiotic after talking it over with my husband because I didn’t want to needlessly scare myself and I was in pain because of the UTI. Obviously this was a big mistake! A simple google search would have shown me that cipro carries a black box label and has the words “only to be used as a last resort medicine”. My doctor didn’t know this and apparently neither did the pharmacist.
The day I took my very first pill I had some severe soreness in my left foot. I had cleaned my whole house that day barefoot and so I thought I must have bruised my heel. A few days later, one of my eyes got irritated and very quickly swelled shut. By the end of that week – after the 11th pill – I was completely unable to walk and in the worst pain that I have ever felt. I remembered, just after taking the last pill, that a friend of mine had made a Facebook post years before about an antibiotic that had crippled her husband. I called her and discovered that Cipro was the same drug her husband had taken.
I immediately called my doctor and he suggested that I go to the hospital for IV fluids hoping that it would flush my system. Of course, I had no idea that what had happened to me was not something that could be treated with traditional medicine. I was admitted to the hospital and I stayed there for 4 days. While in the hospital I was seen by 7 doctors. All but one of them acknowledged what they called “fluoroquinolone toxicity”, but they had no understanding of how to treat it and they told me that. Thankfully, I didn’t take their recommendation to take NSAIDS and steroids!
Over the next couple of months I continued to deteriorate to the point that I could not bathe, dress or feed myself. My children had to go live with my parents and my husband had to stay home to care for me. The excruciating pain also continued. During this time we decided to hire a health coach (Jason Sousa). Jason was able to walk us through supplements, diet, treatment options and give us encouragement that I would find healing. His coaching was a bright light during one of the darkest times of my life.

In June of 2020, my husband and I flew to California to receive treatment with Dr. Mark Ghalili. I stayed there for 8 treatments and also received stem cells. Within a few weeks I graduated from a wheelchair to a walker. Then a few weeks after that I no longer needed a walker. By October of 2020 I was able to not only walk, but run and jump on the trampoline with my kids. I have made a full recovery and am now living my life to the fullest!

I take my health very seriously after what I’ve been through and see it as a gift from God. I try to eliminate gluten and sugar and processed foods. I try to eat foods in their whole form and believe food is medicine. I take some minerals and supplements – especially magnesium.

I never dreamed that I would be writing my story for Floxie Hope. I poured over these stories while I was disabled and in a wheelchair and to now be able to remember the darkest time in my life and tell you all from the other side of it that there is hope is so surreal!! Your body wants to heal and can heal if given the right tools. I am so thankful that I was floxed. I know that is the craziest thing to say, but God worked it for so much good in my life. I take nothing for granted! I am thankful everyday for legs that work and for a body that can take care of my home and my family. It took me forever to get around to writing my story because I am busy living life to the fullest and making every day count! I praise God for healing me through the special people He sent along the way – Jason Sousa and Mark Ghalili – I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

Emily Kines