I’ve been excited by how many wonderful guests have joined us in the past couple of weeks. Gail Pallotta is no exception. She has a new book, Barely above Water releasing on April 15 as an e-book. If you read to the bottom of the post, you’ll find directions on how to enter.

Here’s a little bit about the book:

An illness comes out of nowhere and strikes Suzie Morris. Her boyfriend dumps her. She has no living family, and her physician can’t diagnose the malady. Suzie relies on her Christian faith as she faces the uncertainty of the disease, and turns to a renowned alternative doctor in Destin, Florida. She takes a job coaching a county-sponsored summer swim team. She’s determined to turn the fun, sometimes comical, rag-tag bunch into winners. Her handsome boss renews her belief in love, but learns of her mysterious affliction and abruptly cuts romantic ties. Later he has regrets, but can he overcome his fear of losing a loved one and regain Suzie’s trust?

Wow, sounds great, Gail!

1. Barely Above Water focuses on alternative medical treatments. What inspired you to write about that?

Ten years ago I grew very ill. After a month of tests, the doctor told me they couldn’t diagnose my malady, so they couldn’t treat me. I had no recourse except to grow sicker and sicker and had no idea where to turn for help. The last name of a chiropractor a friend of mine had seen ten years earlier kept popping in my head. I ignored it because I needed medical help, not an adjustment, but the name persisted until finally I called my friend and asked about him. He turned out to be David Lee, D.C., Ph.D., C.Ad., now an alternative doctor as well as a chiropractor. I scheduled an appointment, and he started treating me immediately for a toxic substance. Later, a scan at Dr. Lee’s office showed the bacteria for Chronic Lyme disease. Since then I’ve met and heard of many people suffering from Chronic Lyme disease, or an illness that can’t be diagnosed. Their stories touched my heart and inspired me to write Barely Above Water, which gives information about symptoms and treatments for the disease. The technical material is woven around a romance and a cute group of youngsters on a summer league swim team, so it’s fun as well as informative.

2. What kind of treatments can someone receive at an alternative doctor?

Help abounds, and the therapies are not invasive. I’ll mention a few. Cold laser treatments regulate normal cell function, stimulate weak areas of the body by improving metabolism and circulation, and promote tissue healing. The cold laser penetrates clothing, but it doesn’t burn or cut. Dr. Lee refers to the laser light as an acronym for, Letting In God’s Healing Touch.

Pulsed electromagnetic therapy targets damaged cells. If they’re not too impaired, it pumps them up to restore their pulsating open / close mechanisms to make them work properly. If there’s irreparable damage, the treatment causes the body to throw off the inefficient cells so it can grow new ones. I’ve heard that some traditional medical offices now use pulsed electromagnetic therapy to alleviate pain in their patients.

Footbaths, technically speaking, are ionic cellular detoxifications. This is a fun therapy to discuss, because so many people have different opinions about them. Many believe those having the therapy place their feet in a basin of water, toxins come out, and the water turns yucky colors. Others hold to the theory that the footbath causes the body to throw off toxins later, and the different shades in the water are caused by chemicals created during the process. Quite a few agree that certain colors mean the footbath is working on particular parts of the body, such as white for the lymphatic system. They will help the body eliminate toxins, and that’s the important thing. There are quite a few other therapies available. According to Dr. Lee, it’s the synergy of all of the therapies working together that gives us the desired results.

For those with an undiagnosed illness, the biofeedback machine is invaluable. In lay terms, it’s a detection device. The patient is hooked to the mechanism, which is attached to a computer. Then a practitioner runs a scan. When the scan ends everything that’s wrong in the body shows up on the computer screen. For me, the first few scans showed only a toxic substance, but Dr. Lee kept running scans, and finally one revealed the bacteria for Chronic Lyme disease. I asked why it didn’t appear during the first scan, and he explained that the spirochetes of Chronic Lyme disease hide in the body. After Dr. Lee removed several layers of toxins, the spirochetes had nowhere to hide. Thankfully, by then I was already receiving treatments for the toxic substance.

Two experts answer questions about this mysterious malady in the back of Barely Above Water.

3. The theme of the book is faith in light of uncertainty. How do you think people today relate to this?

I believe in times of difficulty and uncertainty everyone looks for hope. When we find our lives spinning out of control, we search for something to hold onto. Living in an imperfect world, the reality is, it’s highly unlikely any of us will escape without ever facing a mountain we feel we can’t climb. Or perhaps more appropriately, one we can’t move. “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.” Matthew 17: 20

4. What else do you have in the works?

I have a novella in Prism Book Group’s Love Is…Series, based on I Corinthians 13: 4 – 6. My book, Breaking Barriers, covers “love isn’t easily angered.” It’s scheduled to come out at the end of June. I’m also working on a contemporary romantic comedy series.

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta is a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets, and getting together with friends and family. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s been a best-selling author on All Romance eBooks. She’s published four books, poems, short stories, and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit Gail’s web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com.; her blog at http://www.gailpallotta.blogspot.com; Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore; and twitter at https://twitter.com/Hopefulwords?lang=en

You can now pre-order Barely above Water on Amazon now. It releases on April 15th.

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Thanks for joining us, Gail! It’s been great having you!