We got Covid. Just last week. And it was very unexpected. One wonders how it can be unexpected in a time when it’s all around us and it’s on everyone’s lips and constantly in our thoughts. But we thought we’d had it when we went skiing in France in January 2020– we returned full of flu – so much so that our children missed their first 3 days of school. And we went to our GP for help.

We hadn’t seen her in over 8 years. She even did a swab sample of Philippa, but by the time we knew about Covid-19, and we asked the lab to retest, they couldn’t locate the sample. And we’ve been pretty active during this last year. We felt that we had to have been exposed to it and we must have the antibodies so that’s why we hadn’t “caught Covid”. And now having had Covid last week, I’m even more sure we had it in January 2020. It was all the same symptoms. Just not as bad. Perhaps it was the first strain. And now this is the more virulent “South African” beta strain. But then it’s really just the flu. Like any other flu. So perhaps it was “just the flu”. Who knows?

But what we do know is that Colin tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday 7 June 2021. And I must have given it to him. I had been sick. But not very sick. It was freezing cold in Joburg that week. Bone-chilling cold. And we had been stressed. And run down. And depleted. Dudley had died. We had been up and down to Natal to see him. To say goodbyes when he was still alive, and he was able to hear them. To say goodbyes once he had gone to honour and to celebrate him. We were sad and tired, but our hearts were full. And we were determined to celebrate life. Which we did. Two weekends in a row. We celebrated life fully with two fabulous birthday lunches with friends. We had fun. We laughed. We sang. And we were tired.

So when, on Tuesday 1 June, I started to feel exhausted, and cold, and a bit feverish, it was not unexpected. We had well and truly “burnt the candle at both ends” and now we were feeling burnt out. I had an Epsom salts bath with my oils and put myself to bed by 8pm. I had a restless, feverish night. I didn’t feel great. I woke the next morning with rock solid sinuses and definitely not 100%. I was due to start presenting my online Feminine Wisdom course that evening for 50 women, so I’d better sort myself out. I already had a reflexology appointment booked, so I checked whether Dawn felt comfortable to treat me, which she did, and off I went. I had a wonderful session (I even dosed off) and followed it with a session of acupuncture, cupping and a vitamin B injection. And I felt great. So much better. Nearly back to full health. Slightly blocked sinuses but otherwise all good. No fever, no tiredness, no other symptoms. And so, I taught my course online on Wednesday night. And I taught it again for 20 women the next day in our lounge. I had planned for us to be in the garden, in the fresh air with more space, but it was so freezing cold that we had to be inside. I had diffusers going, On Guard hand cleansing mist, and I still felt great. My nose was hardly blocked. I presented for 3 hours, and then went to have lunch with my parents. And so, it continued. I was feeling much better, but Colin started to “go downhill” on Friday. He started to feel feverish and “fluey”, but this too was not unexpected. He just had what I’d had. We’d both burnt the candle and we were both burnt out. So, we treated it as we did the flu. And his was definitely worse, perhaps we call it “man-flu”? Always worse – these poor men do seem to get so much sicker!

But by Monday he wasn’t better as I was (although I still had a blocked nose) so he went for a test. And it was positive. And the same day I lost my sense of smell. It was gone. I couldn’t smell my eucalyptus oil in the shower. That’s how I knew. And I got a fright. And felt physically and emotionally sick about it. Because then I knew I had it too.

And we went down rabbit holes. Down and down and into the depths – who could we have infected? Whose granny may die? Whose overseas flight would be affected? Who would get sick? We had unknowingly and unwittingly been with people. And in retrospect we were symptomatic. We locked down. Locked ourselves in. Kept kids at home. Told everyone. Told the ladies from my course. But you can watch my short video on the mind f**k that is a Covid diagnosis here. We started our course of Ivermectin. Put our staff on Ivermectin. Started high dose liposomal vitamin C, D, zinc, cod liver oil, tissue salts and essential oils. Why had we not done this before? As I’d been writing about exactly this protocol for over a year. The healthful way to support yourself before you even get sick. To perhaps prevent illness and to help your body cope if you do get sick. We’d done this last year. But now we thought we were “bullet proof”. We didn’t need this. We were fine. We would be fine. Except we weren’t that fine. We were exhausted, burnt out, depleted. We were ripe terrain. And the virus found us. Who knows how? We still have no idea. We still have no exposure that we know of. No contact. But it found us.

Because it will find you if you are run down, depleted, exhausted. Just like the flu does. This is not new. We all know this. And it will find you if you’re inflamed, stressed, overwhelmed and fearful. Because we’ve all seen this in the last year. One can’t deny it. But what I do deny is that “nothing can be done”. “Go home and isolate. Stay away from everyone. Stay in your room. Think about who you’ve infected. Be scared. Feel guilty. There’s nothing else you can do. Just try get better. And if you don’t, if you take a turn for the worse between day 6 and day 8, take yourself to the doctor, to hospital and there we will try and save your life. Put you on oxygen. But it may be too late. You may be too sick. This is Covid. This is how it happens”.

And I call BS. I really do. This is not to say it’s not an awful virus. We all know loved ones who have had a terrible time with it. Many of us, including ourselves, have loved ones who have even died, far too young, far too soon. Many of us have friends struggling with the terrible effects of long covid. They are permanently depleted. Exhausted. No sense of smell or taste. Scar tissue on lungs. Unable to exercise. Feeling terrible every day. I do not deny any of this and I do not take it lightly. This is a dreadful virus. And it is virulent. And it is mutating. But there is a lot we can do.

Never in the history of humankind and of nursing have we left people on their own to “get well”. We’ve never locked them in a room before. Left them alone in hospital and not visited. Not allowed visitors in their darkest hour. Never made them feel so guilty about how they may have spread this. That someone else may die because they went to the shops. They went to school. They had lunch with friends. No. We’ve never done this. We have always nursed. We have nursed Ebola. We have nursed TB. We have nursed leprosy. We have sat by bed sides, and we have fed our loved ones and our patients soup. Chicken soup for the soul. We have brought them ginger, lemon and honey tea. We have looked after them. We have checked on them. And nurses have worn masks to protect vulnerable patients from anything that the nurse may spread to their patient. But we have comforted our patients, read to them, given them their meds, given them hope. We have not left them alone. And I realise that this is a virulent virus. That many will get it. Especially if they too are burnt out, depleted, inflamed. That’s most of us in our society. Perhaps that is a warning to us all? A message to look after ourselves better. So that we don’t contract this virus. And if we do contract it, we won’t succumb. Or we will navigate it much better. It’s that simple.

So, we decided to lock down and quarantine together. Our children with us. And our staff too. We all took our appropriate dose of Ivermectin, based on our weights, along with an antihistamine, and plenty of water. We all nebulised with saline, hydrogen peroxide and a drop of iodine. We all steamed with our oils – tea tree, clove, lemon, oregano and peppermint. As many of you know I only use 100% pure oils. Not just “pure” on the label, because anyone can claim that and there is no FDA or governing body checking. No, I use pure oils that have transparent testing. Where I can search on a website and see the purity and sourcing of that exact bottle of oil. Only then do I trust it and deem it safe to use on our family. And only then is it really effective.

So, we nebulised. We steamed. We made oil capsules of strong anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic oils. We layered oils up and down our spines – these same oils I’ve just mentioned. We put them on our chests and in our Epsom salts baths. We did Ela Manga and Breathwork Africa’s breathing exercises. We had infrared saunas – we are lucky to have one in our bathroom and it’s one of the best (and not that expensive) investments we have ever made for our health. We had vitamin C and B drips. Our wonderful friends at Sticks and Stones Wellness organised this for us and it was done in our home. For Colin, me and for our helper Catherine – who is somewhat large and quite overweight (she is managing her health on a programme right now and getting better every day) – we were concerned that she may deteriorate quickly. She started her symptoms the day Colin got his positive test result. Job, our driver and Catherine’s husband, initially appeared fine and had no symptoms. He felt he would be fine as he’d had the experimental vaccine when he returned to Malawi in May. But he soon wasn’t fine. In fact, he’s been the worst affected. It’s bizarre.

And then my mum started with similar symptoms to mine. And a friend did too. And I had to tell the ladies from my course that they needed to isolate too until they were past day 7 as they had had a primary exposure. I felt terrible about it. And so, they too started following our “protocol”. But they did it a lot sooner than we had started. I was nearly day 6 and Colin was day 4 when I started Ivermectin, high doses vitamins and our full protocol. And then we slept. And we slept some more. And family and friends dropped off soup and meals and we were so grateful for the love and support shown to us. And we slowly got better. And then we felt worse. And then better. And through it all our 3 children (15, 12 and 10 years) were really well. They took their Ivermectin, their vitamins, their cod liver oil. They thought we were trying to kill them with the cod liver oil – they weren’t worried about the Covid – only the cod liver! They used the essential oils. And they rested. And they sat with us in bed as we read to them. And they lay in the sun with us, and we chatted and read “Animal Farm” together. And they stayed well.

And now we are day 18 for me, and day 15 for Colin. And we’ve come to Zululand, where Colin is from, to heal. To have warmth, sunshine and fresh air. To be in nature. To eat good and healthy food. My mum is, thank God, doing well. She didn’t have a test but has had all the same symptoms as me. So, she quarantined with my dad. Who had no symptoms at all. They slept in different rooms once she started her symptoms but the rest of the time they were together. And they took their Ivermectin immediately and looked after themselves.

And our staff are doing well. But on day 8 for Job – the typical “Covid turning point” – he was getting worse. Night sweats and fevers. Aching. Headache. Feeling awful. So, we did a WhatsApp video call with our wonderful GP. We discussed his symptoms and what to look out for. Through this all we’ve had all of us checking our temperatures regularly and our oxygen saturation too. My oxygen levels had been consistently high. Colin’s was often low 90’s but not below 92. Job’s dropped to 88 and that’s when we decided to speak to our doctor. She prescribed anti-biotics and cortisone for him. He’s started the course of treatment. He’s feeling better. He’s still got a slight fever at night but not as before. His oxygen is over 90. He’s headed in the right direction. I hope it continues. It’s really important to monitor oxygen because we often don’t realise we are in trouble until we’re “well gone” – we should have been on oxygen or in hospital by then but we don’t even realise we’re sick. So please get an oximeter. And put in batteries (I’m serious – the last thing you want to be doing when sick is hunting for batteries). And use it as your “objective guide” to how you’re doing.

And may you and your family not just “weather the storm” that is Covid, but may you thrive too. Because every time we have a significant illness and we “fight it” and recover, our immune system undergoes a big “upgrade”, like a software update. We work better. We are stronger. More resilient. We rest. In fact, we have rested more in the last 2 weeks than we have ever rested, other than when our children were born. And we needed the rest. We needed the retreat from the world. It came at a “good” time. We also sloughed off the “dead wood” and extra weight. We detoxed because we ate little else other than healthful soups and green juices. And we will come out even better than before.

And we don’t need an vaccine with the incredibly high risks it comes with. It is actually not a vaccine or even an experimental vaccine. A vaccine, as defined legally under CDC and FDA standards, has to “both stimulate the immunity within the person receiving it and it also has to disrupt transmission”. And this is not what this is. This is unlike any vaccine ever developed. We have not seen this type of “vaccine” before. Moderna and Pfizer have been abundantly clear in saying that the mRNA strand that is packaged in a fat envelope and delivered to a cell will not stop the transmission. It is a treatment. Moderna was started as a chemotherapy company for cancer, not a vaccine manufacturer for SARS-CoV-2. This mRNA treatment is like taking prophylactic chemotherapy for cancer. We wouldn’t do it. Please do your homework on this before you have it. It is something that cannot be undone and already the EU EudraVigilance – European database of suspected adverse drug reactions – is reporting 12, 184 dead and 1,196,190 injuries from Covid-19 Vaccine Adverse Drug Reactions through 22 May 2021. So I’m actually grateful to have had Covid-19, and as a family we have developed natural herd immunity and have no need for a vaccine and according to the theory of herd immunity (as stated on Wikipedia) “Immune individuals are unlikely to contribute to disease transmission, disrupting chains of infection, which stops or slows the spread of disease. The greater the proportion of immune individuals in a community, the smaller the probability that non-immune individuals will come into contact with an infectious individual.”

So as difficult as this time has been, it has actually served me and our family, and will contribute to what is needed most at this time – natural herd immunity from this virus – which will support and protect non-immune and more “high-risk” individuals. But it’s a journey. And we have to look after ourselves along the way. Because it doesn’t happen by itself. We have to support ourselves and to continue to support ourselves even though we’re feeling better. Because this comes in waves. Like the virus. But we will be better.

For those who are interested, this is the protocol we used. This is just what we used. It is not medical advice. It is not a prescription. This whole situation calls for us to be our own healers. To take responsibility for our health. To research. To question. To do what is right – FOR US. And what is right for me and for our family may not be right for you and for your family. But only you know that. So, it’s time to rise. To be aware. To step into your own power. You can do it. We all can. We can rise together. And our whole world can be better. 

Many of you may know that my dear Granny June – Elizabeth June Stewart Smith (nee Campbell Begg) – passed early on Thursday morning. She was an incredible woman, and she would have been 99 years old on the 28 June 2021. Amongst many roles, she was a nursing sister and a matron. We have a long lineage of nurses and healers in our family. Her father was one of South Africa’s first urologists. Her mother was a nurse. Her grandmother was one of the first nurses to be awarded the Royal Red Cross for her distinguished service with the troops on the North-West Frontier in India. I wear her silver bracelet every day. And her grandfather was a very well-known eye specialist in Wellington, New Zealand. My mother Pam (her daughter) is a psychologist. And I, her granddaughter, am a physiotherapist. Nursing and healing is our lineage. It is in our blood. We know it in our bones. And I am so grateful for this, but every cell in my body tells me that we need to get back to nursing as we always have done. We cannot leave people alone. It is inhumane.

Covid protocol used by Aylward family

Oils – only certified, pure, therapeutic grade oils. Never take any other oils internally:

FLOOT internally: 3 – 5 times daily – Frankincense (10 drops), Lemon (20), Protective Blend (20), Oregano (10), Tea Tree (20) with 1 – 2 droppers carrier oil (olive oil, fractionated coconut oil or any edible oil) – I premixed this in an old 15ml oil bottle with a dropper, and then made capsules as we needed from here. 6 – 8 drops of this mixture in a veggie capsule.
Sinus steamer: a drop of lemon, peppermint, oregano, tea tree and 1 – 3 drops of clove (or On Guard) – steam 3 times a day. Inhale through your nose and out through your mouth 10 times. Then inhale through your mouth and out through your nose 10 times. You can add black seed oil too. I did the sinus steamer after nebulising – see the video I made explaining it all here
“Immune” bomb 10 drops oregano, protective blend, respiratory blend, peppermint (and turmeric if you have) in a roller or balm jar with a carrier oil of coconut or fractionated coconut oil, applied frequently under feet, spine, over lymph glands and back of neck.
Symptomatic, topical use of respiratory blend of oils to help open our chests, and peppermint oil for cooling and headaches
Diffusing these same oils as above for the same reasons – a total of 6 – 8 drops of different oils in the diffuser (2 – 4 drops for children)
If you would like to know more about these oils you can Whatapp me on this link. I’m also hosting in-person and online classes this week – Friday morning 25th June at 10.30am on Zoom (if you’d like the recording please register too). Saturday morning 26th of June at our home in Inanda. More details are on my website, as is the registration link. Booking is essential as places are limited for the in-person class.

Supplements (we got them from The Health Nut – they do deliveries – but any good health shop should stock these):
Liposomal vitamin C 1000mg 10ml 3 – 5 times daily (when is full viral state – twice a day as you start to improve)
Vitamin D3 1000mg 3 – 5 times daily (also decreasing with improvement)
2,5ml Liposomal Zinc daily
5 sprays Lung Support Formula hourly
2 Spore Probiotic capsules daily
1 tsp Rosita cod liver oil 3 times per day
1 TBS Diatomaceous Earth in a glass of water every night before bed
NAD plus – one tablet twice a day. I must admit that I’d never heard of this before we had Covid but were introduced to it by our extremely knowledgeable and well-researched friend Tertia Labuschagne of pure_republiq. It has huge antioxidant qualities and it promotes immune function. So, it’s perfect to help manage Covid especially if you have an “inflammatory” condition and predisposing risk factors. Then you should consider taking this with immediate effect.

Tissue salts – especially numbers 4 and 8 – 2 pillules 4 times daily under the tongue. We also had a mixture custom by for us by Choices holistic Healing – Maryann Franke (083 250 7312).
We’ve realised that the lack of smell is often linked to lack of zinc. So, make sure you are getting enough zinc even before you get sick. And magnesium. Most of us are very depleted in mineral salts as soil and farming isn’t what it used to be. That’s where high-quality tissue salts are so useful and important.

Prophylatic and children:
as above just decrease the dose

Ivermectin:
Use this with the guidance of your healthcare provider. If you source Ivermectin somewhere else, follow these guidelines below but try and get personal advice wherever possible. If you cannot source any you, are welcome to email me directly for a contact – my email address is on my website or this blog. Use the subject IVERMECTIN.
We had 12mg tablets – and dosage was 0,2mg/kg body weight
1 tablet immediately (for a 60 – 70kg weight)
1 ½ tablets for 90kg weight
2 tablets for over 100kg
Repeat dose day 3
If no symptoms develop, take another dose 1 – 2 weeks later.
If symptoms do develop, take another dose on day 5 and 7 too.
Take with an antihistamine (natural or pharmaceutical) to help your body deal with the parasite fall out and the side effects (you can get very itchy and full of rashes). And drink plenty of water too. This is very important.

Nebuliser:
Nebulise with hydrogen peroxide and iodine or colloidal silver. See video explaining more here

Other tools:
Breathing exercises – explained here by Dr Ela Manga in her Breathing Toolkit for Doctors and Patients through Covid-19
Infrared sauna
Lots of hydrating with lemon, ginger and honey tea and water
Breathing exercises as per Breathwork Africa Breathing Toolkit
Sniffing salt (1tsp), bicarb (pinch) dissolved in warm water
Gargling as above
Aspirin or Panado as needed for pain and dysfunction
Check oxygen levels with oximeter
Vitamin drip: Sticks and Stones Wellness
Shot Bro Immune Booster – lemon, ginger, turmeric, real honey – a friend from Lemonlicious dropped off these amazing shots for us. They are delicious and potent! We loved them and lived on them, and would like to get some more. I don’t see them on the website but Lemonlicious’ contact details are there and I highly suggest these delicious little shots!
Coconut water to hydrate

Contact your GP or Healthcare provider if oxygen levels drop below 90 and or your temperature is consistently high. Especially around days 6 – 8. Check in with them and let them know how you’re doing anyway.

For more information on Ivermectin, vitamin D and other suggestions see Dr Ryan Cole’s video – he is the CEO and Medical Director of Cole Diagnostics. He claims that there is no such thing as cold and flu season. There is only “low vitamin D season”. Which would explain why the Northern Hemisphere has battled so much and why the Southern Hemisphere has done much better. And why there has not been the devastation in our townships that we expected. It’s a brilliant video and well worth watching for everyone!

Another brilliant interview video #ThePeoplesVoice on Salaamedia – Ivermectin – Covid-19 prevention and treatment

And our own South African Dr Tess Lawrie, who is based in Bath now and contacted Boris Johnson in January to tell him about this miracle cure with incredible research – and yet Boris wasn’t interested, and she never got a reply. Here is her systematic review on the drug Ivermectin.

We got Covid. Just last week. And it was very unexpected. One wonders how it can be unexpected in a time when it’s all around us and it’s on everyone’s lips and constantly in our thoughts. But we thought we’d had it when we went skiing in France in January 2020– we returned full of flu – so much so that our children missed their first 3 days of school. And we went to our GP for help.

We hadn’t seen her in over 8 years. She even did a swab sample of Philippa, but by the time we knew about Covid-19, and we asked the lab to retest, they couldn’t locate the sample. And we’ve been pretty active during this last year. We felt that we had to have been exposed to it and we must have the antibodies so that’s why we hadn’t “caught Covid”. And now having had Covid last week, I’m even more sure we had it in January 2020. It was all the same symptoms. Just not as bad. Perhaps it was the first strain. And now this is the more virulent “South African” beta strain. But then it’s really just the flu. Like any other flu. So perhaps it was “just the flu”. Who knows?

But what we do know is that Colin tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday 7 June 2021. And I must have given it to him. I had been sick. But not very sick. It was freezing cold in Joburg that week. Bone-chilling cold. And we had been stressed. And run down. And depleted. Dudley had died. We had been up and down to Natal to see him. To say goodbyes when he was still alive, and he was able to hear them. To say goodbyes once he had gone to honour and to celebrate him. We were sad and tired, but our hearts were full. And we were determined to celebrate life. Which we did. Two weekends in a row. We celebrated life fully with two fabulous birthday lunches with friends. We had fun. We laughed. We sang. And we were tired.

So when, on Tuesday 1 June, I started to feel exhausted, and cold, and a bit feverish, it was not unexpected. We had well and truly “burnt the candle at both ends” and now we were feeling burnt out. I had an Epsom salts bath with my oils and put myself to bed by 8pm. I had a restless, feverish night. I didn’t feel great. I woke the next morning with rock solid sinuses and definitely not 100%. I was due to start presenting my online Feminine Wisdom course that evening for 50 women, so I’d better sort myself out. I already had a reflexology appointment booked, so I checked whether Dawn felt comfortable to treat me, which she did, and off I went. I had a wonderful session (I even dosed off) and followed it with a session of acupuncture, cupping and a vitamin B injection. And I felt great. So much better. Nearly back to full health. Slightly blocked sinuses but otherwise all good. No fever, no tiredness, no other symptoms. And so, I taught my course online on Wednesday night. And I taught it again for 20 women the next day in our lounge. I had planned for us to be in the garden, in the fresh air with more space, but it was so freezing cold that we had to be inside. I had diffusers going, On Guard hand cleansing mist, and I still felt great. My nose was hardly blocked. I presented for 3 hours, and then went to have lunch with my parents. And so, it continued. I was feeling much better, but Colin started to “go downhill” on Friday. He started to feel feverish and “fluey”, but this too was not unexpected. He just had what I’d had. We’d both burnt the candle and we were both burnt out. So, we treated it as we did the flu. And his was definitely worse, perhaps we call it “man-flu”? Always worse – these poor men do seem to get so much sicker!

But by Monday he wasn’t better as I was (although I still had a blocked nose) so he went for a test. And it was positive. And the same day I lost my sense of smell. It was gone. I couldn’t smell my eucalyptus oil in the shower. That’s how I knew. And I got a fright. And felt physically and emotionally sick about it. Because then I knew I had it too.

And we went down rabbit holes. Down and down and into the depths – who could we have infected? Whose granny may die? Whose overseas flight would be affected? Who would get sick? We had unknowingly and unwittingly been with people. And in retrospect we were symptomatic. We locked down. Locked ourselves in. Kept kids at home. Told everyone. Told the ladies from my course. But you can watch my short video on the mind f**k that is a Covid diagnosis here. We started our course of Ivermectin. Put our staff on Ivermectin. Started high dose liposomal vitamin C, D, zinc, cod liver oil, tissue salts and essential oils. Why had we not done this before? As I’d been writing about exactly this protocol for over a year. The healthful way to support yourself before you even get sick. To perhaps prevent illness and to help your body cope if you do get sick. We’d done this last year. But now we thought we were “bullet proof”. We didn’t need this. We were fine. We would be fine. Except we weren’t that fine. We were exhausted, burnt out, depleted. We were ripe terrain. And the virus found us. Who knows how? We still have no idea. We still have no exposure that we know of. No contact. But it found us.

Because it will find you if you are run down, depleted, exhausted. Just like the flu does. This is not new. We all know this. And it will find you if you’re inflamed, stressed, overwhelmed and fearful. Because we’ve all seen this in the last year. One can’t deny it. But what I do deny is that “nothing can be done”. “Go home and isolate. Stay away from everyone. Stay in your room. Think about who you’ve infected. Be scared. Feel guilty. There’s nothing else you can do. Just try get better. And if you don’t, if you take a turn for the worse between day 6 and day 8, take yourself to the doctor, to hospital and there we will try and save your life. Put you on oxygen. But it may be too late. You may be too sick. This is Covid. This is how it happens”.

And I call BS. I really do. This is not to say it’s not an awful virus. We all know loved ones who have had a terrible time with it. Many of us, including ourselves, have loved ones who have even died, far too young, far too soon. Many of us have friends struggling with the terrible effects of long covid. They are permanently depleted. Exhausted. No sense of smell or taste. Scar tissue on lungs. Unable to exercise. Feeling terrible every day. I do not deny any of this and I do not take it lightly. This is a dreadful virus. And it is virulent. And it is mutating. But there is a lot we can do.

Never in the history of humankind and of nursing have we left people on their own to “get well”. We’ve never locked them in a room before. Left them alone in hospital and not visited. Not allowed visitors in their darkest hour. Never made them feel so guilty about how they may have spread this. That someone else may die because they went to the shops. They went to school. They had lunch with friends. No. We’ve never done this. We have always nursed. We have nursed Ebola. We have nursed TB. We have nursed leprosy. We have sat by bed sides, and we have fed our loved ones and our patients soup. Chicken soup for the soul. We have brought them ginger, lemon and honey tea. We have looked after them. We have checked on them. And nurses have worn masks to protect vulnerable patients from anything that the nurse may spread to their patient. But we have comforted our patients, read to them, given them their meds, given them hope. We have not left them alone. And I realise that this is a virulent virus. That many will get it. Especially if they too are burnt out, depleted, inflamed. That’s most of us in our society. Perhaps that is a warning to us all? A message to look after ourselves better. So that we don’t contract this virus. And if we do contract it, we won’t succumb. Or we will navigate it much better. It’s that simple.

So, we decided to lock down and quarantine together. Our children with us. And our staff too. We all took our appropriate dose of Ivermectin, based on our weights, along with an antihistamine, and plenty of water. We all nebulised with saline, hydrogen peroxide and a drop of iodine. We all steamed with our oils – tea tree, clove, lemon, oregano and peppermint. As many of you know I only use 100% pure oils. Not just “pure” on the label, because anyone can claim that and there is no FDA or governing body checking. No, I use pure oils that have transparent testing. Where I can search on a website and see the purity and sourcing of that exact bottle of oil. Only then do I trust it and deem it safe to use on our family. And only then is it really effective.

So, we nebulised. We steamed. We made oil capsules of strong anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic oils. We layered oils up and down our spines – these same oils I’ve just mentioned. We put them on our chests and in our Epsom salts baths. We did Ela Manga and Breathwork Africa’s breathing exercises. We had infrared saunas – we are lucky to have one in our bathroom and it’s one of the best (and not that expensive) investments we have ever made for our health. We had vitamin C and B drips. Our wonderful friends at Sticks and Stones Wellness organised this for us and it was done in our home. For Colin, me and for our helper Catherine – who is somewhat large and quite overweight (she is managing her health on a programme right now and getting better every day) – we were concerned that she may deteriorate quickly. She started her symptoms the day Colin got his positive test result. Job, our driver and Catherine’s husband, initially appeared fine and had no symptoms. He felt he would be fine as he’d had the experimental vaccine when he returned to Malawi in May. But he soon wasn’t fine. In fact, he’s been the worst affected. It’s bizarre.

And then my mum started with similar symptoms to mine. And a friend did too. And I had to tell the ladies from my course that they needed to isolate too until they were past day 7 as they had had a primary exposure. I felt terrible about it. And so, they too started following our “protocol”. But they did it a lot sooner than we had started. I was nearly day 6 and Colin was day 4 when I started Ivermectin, high doses vitamins and our full protocol. And then we slept. And we slept some more. And family and friends dropped off soup and meals and we were so grateful for the love and support shown to us. And we slowly got better. And then we felt worse. And then better. And through it all our 3 children (15, 12 and 10 years) were really well. They took their Ivermectin, their vitamins, their cod liver oil. They thought we were trying to kill them with the cod liver oil – they weren’t worried about the Covid – only the cod liver! They used the essential oils. And they rested. And they sat with us in bed as we read to them. And they lay in the sun with us, and we chatted and read “Animal Farm” together. And they stayed well.

And now we are day 18 for me, and day 15 for Colin. And we’ve come to Zululand, where Colin is from, to heal. To have warmth, sunshine and fresh air. To be in nature. To eat good and healthy food. My mum is, thank God, doing well. She didn’t have a test but has had all the same symptoms as me. So, she quarantined with my dad. Who had no symptoms at all. They slept in different rooms once she started her symptoms but the rest of the time they were together. And they took their Ivermectin immediately and looked after themselves.

And our staff are doing well. But on day 8 for Job – the typical “Covid turning point” – he was getting worse. Night sweats and fevers. Aching. Headache. Feeling awful. So, we did a WhatsApp video call with our wonderful GP. We discussed his symptoms and what to look out for. Through this all we’ve had all of us checking our temperatures regularly and our oxygen saturation too. My oxygen levels had been consistently high. Colin’s was often low 90’s but not below 92. Job’s dropped to 88 and that’s when we decided to speak to our doctor. She prescribed anti-biotics and cortisone for him. He’s started the course of treatment. He’s feeling better. He’s still got a slight fever at night but not as before. His oxygen is over 90. He’s headed in the right direction. I hope it continues. It’s really important to monitor oxygen because we often don’t realise we are in trouble until we’re “well gone” – we should have been on oxygen or in hospital by then but we don’t even realise we’re sick. So please get an oximeter. And put in batteries (I’m serious – the last thing you want to be doing when sick is hunting for batteries). And use it as your “objective guide” to how you’re doing.

And may you and your family not just “weather the storm” that is Covid, but may you thrive too. Because every time we have a significant illness and we “fight it” and recover, our immune system undergoes a big “upgrade”, like a software update. We work better. We are stronger. More resilient. We rest. In fact, we have rested more in the last 2 weeks than we have ever rested, other than when our children were born. And we needed the rest. We needed the retreat from the world. It came at a “good” time. We also sloughed off the “dead wood” and extra weight. We detoxed because we ate little else other than healthful soups and green juices. And we will come out even better than before.

And we don’t need an vaccine with the incredibly high risks it comes with. It is actually not a vaccine or even an experimental vaccine. A vaccine, as defined legally under CDC and FDA standards, has to “both stimulate the immunity within the person receiving it and it also has to disrupt transmission”. And this is not what this is. This is unlike any vaccine ever developed. We have not seen this type of “vaccine” before. Moderna and Pfizer have been abundantly clear in saying that the mRNA strand that is packaged in a fat envelope and delivered to a cell will not stop the transmission. It is a treatment. Moderna was started as a chemotherapy company for cancer, not a vaccine manufacturer for SARS-CoV-2. This mRNA treatment is like taking prophylactic chemotherapy for cancer. We wouldn’t do it. Please do your homework on this before you have it. It is something that cannot be undone and already the EU EudraVigilance – European database of suspected adverse drug reactions – is reporting 12, 184 dead and 1,196,190 injuries from Covid-19 Vaccine Adverse Drug Reactions through 22 May 2021. So I’m actually grateful to have had Covid-19, and as a family we have developed natural herd immunity and have no need for a vaccine and according to the theory of herd immunity (as stated on Wikipedia) “Immune individuals are unlikely to contribute to disease transmission, disrupting chains of infection, which stops or slows the spread of disease. The greater the proportion of immune individuals in a community, the smaller the probability that non-immune individuals will come into contact with an infectious individual.”

So as difficult as this time has been, it has actually served me and our family, and will contribute to what is needed most at this time – natural herd immunity from this virus – which will support and protect non-immune and more “high-risk” individuals. But it’s a journey. And we have to look after ourselves along the way. Because it doesn’t happen by itself. We have to support ourselves and to continue to support ourselves even though we’re feeling better. Because this comes in waves. Like the virus. But we will be better.

For those who are interested, this is the protocol we used. This is just what we used. It is not medical advice. It is not a prescription. This whole situation calls for us to be our own healers. To take responsibility for our health. To research. To question. To do what is right – FOR US. And what is right for me and for our family may not be right for you and for your family. But only you know that. So, it’s time to rise. To be aware. To step into your own power. You can do it. We all can. We can rise together. And our whole world can be better. 

Many of you may know that my dear Granny June – Elizabeth June Stewart Smith (nee Campbell Begg) – passed early on Thursday morning. She was an incredible woman, and she would have been 99 years old on the 28 June 2021. Amongst many roles, she was a nursing sister and a matron. We have a long lineage of nurses and healers in our family. Her father was one of South Africa’s first urologists. Her mother was a nurse. Her grandmother was one of the first nurses to be awarded the Royal Red Cross for her distinguished service with the troops on the North-West Frontier in India. I wear her silver bracelet every day. And her grandfather was a very well-known eye specialist in Wellington, New Zealand. My mother Pam (her daughter) is a psychologist. And I, her granddaughter, am a physiotherapist. Nursing and healing is our lineage. It is in our blood. We know it in our bones. And I am so grateful for this, but every cell in my body tells me that we need to get back to nursing as we always have done. We cannot leave people alone. It is inhumane.

Covid protocol used by Aylward family

Oils – only certified, pure, therapeutic grade oils. Never take any other oils internally:

FLOOT internally: 3 – 5 times daily – Frankincense (10 drops), Lemon (20), Protective Blend (20), Oregano (10), Tea Tree (20) with 1 – 2 droppers carrier oil (olive oil, fractionated coconut oil or any edible oil) – I premixed this in an old 15ml oil bottle with a dropper, and then made capsules as we needed from here. 6 – 8 drops of this mixture in a veggie capsule.
Sinus steamer: a drop of lemon, peppermint, oregano, tea tree and 1 – 3 drops of clove (or On Guard) – steam 3 times a day. Inhale through your nose and out through your mouth 10 times. Then inhale through your mouth and out through your nose 10 times. You can add black seed oil too. I did the sinus steamer after nebulising – see the video I made explaining it all here
“Immune” bomb 10 drops oregano, protective blend, respiratory blend, peppermint (and turmeric if you have) in a roller or balm jar with a carrier oil of coconut or fractionated coconut oil, applied frequently under feet, spine, over lymph glands and back of neck.
Symptomatic, topical use of respiratory blend of oils to help open our chests, and peppermint oil for cooling and headaches
Diffusing these same oils as above for the same reasons – a total of 6 – 8 drops of different oils in the diffuser (2 – 4 drops for children)
If you would like to know more about these oils you can Whatapp me on this link. I’m also hosting in-person and online classes this week – Friday morning 25th June at 10.30am on Zoom (if you’d like the recording please register too). Saturday morning 26th of June at our home in Inanda. More details are on my website, as is the registration link. Booking is essential as places are limited for the in-person class.

Supplements (we got them from The Health Nut – they do deliveries – but any good health shop should stock these):
Liposomal vitamin C 1000mg 10ml 3 – 5 times daily (when is full viral state – twice a day as you start to improve)
Vitamin D3 1000mg 3 – 5 times daily (also decreasing with improvement)
2,5ml Liposomal Zinc daily
5 sprays Lung Support Formula hourly
2 Spore Probiotic capsules daily
1 tsp Rosita cod liver oil 3 times per day
1 TBS Diatomaceous Earth in a glass of water every night before bed
NAD plus – one tablet twice a day. I must admit that I’d never heard of this before we had Covid but were introduced to it by our extremely knowledgeable and well-researched friend Tertia Labuschagne of pure_republiq. It has huge antioxidant qualities and it promotes immune function. So, it’s perfect to help manage Covid especially if you have an “inflammatory” condition and predisposing risk factors. Then you should consider taking this with immediate effect.

Tissue salts – especially numbers 4 and 8 – 2 pillules 4 times daily under the tongue. We also had a mixture custom by for us by Choices holistic Healing – Maryann Franke (083 250 7312).
We’ve realised that the lack of smell is often linked to lack of zinc. So, make sure you are getting enough zinc even before you get sick. And magnesium. Most of us are very depleted in mineral salts as soil and farming isn’t what it used to be. That’s where high-quality tissue salts are so useful and important.

Prophylatic and children:
as above just decrease the dose

Ivermectin:
Use this with the guidance of your healthcare provider. If you source Ivermectin somewhere else, follow these guidelines below but try and get personal advice wherever possible. If you cannot source any you, are welcome to email me directly for a contact – my email address is on my website or this blog. Use the subject IVERMECTIN.
We had 12mg tablets – and dosage was 0,2mg/kg body weight
1 tablet immediately (for a 60 – 70kg weight)
1 ½ tablets for 90kg weight
2 tablets for over 100kg
Repeat dose day 3
If no symptoms develop, take another dose 1 – 2 weeks later.
If symptoms do develop, take another dose on day 5 and 7 too.
Take with an antihistamine (natural or pharmaceutical) to help your body deal with the parasite fall out and the side effects (you can get very itchy and full of rashes). And drink plenty of water too. This is very important.

Nebuliser:
Nebulise with hydrogen peroxide and iodine or colloidal silver. See video explaining more here

Other tools:
Breathing exercises – explained here by Dr Ela Manga in her Breathing Toolkit for Doctors and Patients through Covid-19
Infrared sauna
Lots of hydrating with lemon, ginger and honey tea and water
Breathing exercises as per Breathwork Africa Breathing Toolkit
Sniffing salt (1tsp), bicarb (pinch) dissolved in warm water
Gargling as above
Aspirin or Panado as needed for pain and dysfunction
Check oxygen levels with oximeter
Vitamin drip: Sticks and Stones Wellness
Shot Bro Immune Booster – lemon, ginger, turmeric, real honey – a friend from Lemonlicious dropped off these amazing shots for us. They are delicious and potent! We loved them and lived on them, and would like to get some more. I don’t see them on the website but Lemonlicious’ contact details are there and I highly suggest these delicious little shots!
Coconut water to hydrate

Contact your GP or Healthcare provider if oxygen levels drop below 90 and or your temperature is consistently high. Especially around days 6 – 8. Check in with them and let them know how you’re doing anyway.

For more information on Ivermectin, vitamin D and other suggestions see Dr Ryan Cole’s video – he is the CEO and Medical Director of Cole Diagnostics. He claims that there is no such thing as cold and flu season. There is only “low vitamin D season”. Which would explain why the Northern Hemisphere has battled so much and why the Southern Hemisphere has done much better. And why there has not been the devastation in our townships that we expected. It’s a brilliant video and well worth watching for everyone!

Another brilliant interview video #ThePeoplesVoice on Salaamedia – Ivermectin – Covid-19 prevention and treatment

And our own South African Dr Tess Lawrie, who is based in Bath now and contacted Boris Johnson in January to tell him about this miracle cure with incredible research – and yet Boris wasn’t interested, and she never got a reply. Here is her systematic review on the drug Ivermectin.