Many years ago, I founded The Body Balance Center. This center was dedicated to providing wholistic health care for both humans and their animal friends. The natural healing methods that I used in my practice over the years consistently produced great results, however approximately 20 years ago, I started to see a small percentage of animals that did not respond to the usual methods. It seemed that an ever-increasing number of animals were showing up with imbalances in their endocrine systems, specifically their Adrenals and Thyroid glands. More dogs and cats were arriving at our doorstep with serious skin problems, allergies, cancer and gastrointestinal conditions. My standard protocol of herbs, homeopathics, glandulars, supplements and diet were clearly not working. For the first time in my practice, animals that I knew could have regained health, not only lost it, they often died.

Another aspect of my business involved an animal rehabilitation program as well as an adoption center. One day I came across an abandoned puppy that was aimlessly wandering along the beach and of course I took her home. The plan was to rehabilitate her, train her and place her in an appropriate home after her health was fully restored. She had numerous health problems that I attributed to malnutrition and the hardships she had endured. After several months of proper nutrition, supplements, homeopathic and bodywork, I realized this puppy fell into that small percentage of animals with this "endocrine immune issue." One more time, I found this Adrenal and Thyroid imbalance that failed to respond to anything I did. By now this adorable puppy had won my heart along with the name of Darling Darla. (She looked like the dog from the Little Rascals except he was a boy. So we called her Darla after the little girl in the series.) My heart was beginning to break for Darla. This poor puppy couldn't keep any nourishment down. It seemed as though her entire digestive and elimination tracts were defective. She vomited consistently, had chronic diarrhea and could not maintain any body weight. She looked as though I was starving her. She had terrible allergies that left her with runny eyes, a thick black discharge from hers ears and a fire engine red muzzle. She was plagued with Flea Dermatitis and had oozing sores all over her body. I eventually shaved off all of her fur in order to poultice her entire body several times a day. Her gums were inflamed with Gingival Flare and her tummy was red and hot to the touch. Darla whimpered in constant pain. She kept us both awake at night as she chewed herself raw and I prayed for an answer. After implementing all of my methods to no avail, I sought out every wholistic veterinarian in the country. Unfortunately, they offered no new insights into Darla's condition, except euthanasia. After several more months of helplessly watching Darla suffer, I started to consider euthanasia as a possibility. After praying for an answer one more time, I happened across a research paper written by an LA veterinarian who had special interests in allergies and endocrine problems. His name as Al Plechner. I immediately called him and explained Darla's problem, hoping I would not hear more of the same responses and information that I had heard over the past six months. Much to my relief, Plechner had a very different response and very different information. He also validated my theory about Darla's endocrine immune problem. Best of all, he actually helped to create a solution for her problem.

My prayers were finally answered. Plechner's hormonal replacement program, coupled with the wholistic methods I utilized, allowed Darla's system to return to homeostasis. This combination was able to fully restore her health and vitality. I had the good fortune to have Darla as a best friend and teacher for 15 long and gratifying years. It was because of her that I found Plechner. It was through a partnership with Plechner that I was able to help the ever-increasing number of animals who fell into the endocrine immune imbalance category. Darla's problems did not respond to allopathic or alternative medicine alone. She required a creative combination of both modalities and the keen observation of two sets of eyes looking from very different perspectives.

In the past twenty years, the lives of countless animals have been saved and their quality of life restored through the partnership that I developed with Plechner. It was because of Darla and her "incurable problem" that this was possible. Considering that Darla was a little aimless abandoned puppy, her life sure provided an enormous and purposeful contribution to animals and the people who love them.