A Mile in My Shoes

I'm not a Docotor, and I don't play one on TV

I've gotten a few comments and emails from yesterday's post.  I'll respond to them individually, but I'd like to put something here too.

First, I'd like to say that I do have a regular medical doctor at the clinic, and we love him.  In fact, I think we could consider him a friend.  There are some things that one really needs a traditional doctor for.

For instance:  My husband has had pneumonia twice since last fall, and a cough for at least that long.  On his last chest x-ray, a week ago, there was something not quite right.  He doesn't have pneumonia.  But it needs to be further investigated.  So he had a CT scan of his chest.  Which, last night, we found out shows the same thing.  Our Dr. called it a hilar density.  Which, as far as I can tell, just means the tissue in the hilar region of his right lung is (for some reason) more dense.  He is being referred to a pulmonologist, and most likely the next step will be a bronchoscopy.   To find out the reason.

This is a case that our doctor is certainly well trained for, and we obviously need him.  (Feel free to pray for the situation.  I'm not sure how freaked out I'm supposed to be about this.  For now, I'm not freaking.)

I think that as anything in life, herbs and traditional medicine need to be balanced.  What we've done is find a M.D. that is willing (although at times reluctant) to let us do the herbal thing, and we have an N.D.-herbalist that is willing (although at times reluctant) to let us do the traditional thing.  Both admit the other can be great in the right situation, but not every situation.

Herbs are just as much a drug as anything man-made and caution needs to be used. 

I don't think Herbs are something people can just do ala carte.  One needs to shop for an herbalist/N.D. in the same way one would search for an M.D.  It's not easy to do.  It's always best to keep bridges open between both communities.

It's up to the me (the patient) to build my team.  I feel that is essential.  For us, it started almost 12 years ago when we jumped on the Infertility roller coaster.  Very quickly we found it was up to us to steer the ship, or we would never reach the destination we had in mind.  We were at the helm of that ship for 6 years.  We went through the waters of OB/GYNs, Reproductive Endocrinologists, and Adoption Agencies, until we finally reached the Land of Parenthood. 

Anyone with kids knows that you practically live in the doctor's office the first 2 years of your child's life, and I was still in "in charge" mode.  We went through 8 pediatricians in the first 6 months of Iris' life.  But then we found someone we liked, and we still see him. 

So far this approach to medicine (that we are in charge of our experience and the opinion that the physician is not a god but just a man providing us with a service, he/she works for us) has worked out fantastically. 

We are in a much earlier stage of relationship with our herbalist, we are still building trust.  I'm pretty confidant that we've made a good choice though.

As far as the PCOS, I believe I've had it since I was 17 but I was just diagnosed 2 years ago.  I am working with an excellent OB/GYN (I would normally recommend going straight to a Reproductive Endocrinologist, but this Dr. trained under our R.E. and they work closely together)  that gave me one year to try the herbs.  For herbs and PCOS it takes 3-6 months to see results and 6 months with glucophage/metformin.  PCOS is a very serious thing and absolutely needs to be treated.  I can't mess around, I could seriously damage my health-putting myself at risk of diabetes and even cancer.   So I'll give the herbs 6 months to a year.  If there is no change in my health I will go back to glucophage even though I'll feel yucky while I'm on it. 

I'm not a doctor, I'm not giving anyone medical advice.  Your journey through medicine is your responsibility.  If you want to try herbs, consult your doctor first. It doesn't hurt to ask.  Your doctor might surprise you.

Just an Apple a day....

So, I promised my friend Julie I would post a picture of my vitamin shelf.  This is why I can't put my cups and glasses away, the vitamins and herbs took over.  I should mention that most of these are used on an as-needed basis (only a few are daily), our Dr. has no issues with us using these vitamins or herbs, and the company follows RDA guidelines and offers pharmaceutical quality products.

I went to university to be an RN, and I was always skeptical of alternative medicine.  It seems I've converted.

We buy natural fibers for clothing, and I only knit, crochet, & sew with natural fibers.  We are trying to make our home more "green."  We mainly take a Whole Food approach to eating and cooking, Organic and Local whenever possible.  It only makes sense to try and use natural medicines as well.  We have a wonderful herbalist that is an RN and ND.  She's been doing this for over 20 years.  She also mainly sells one brand of supplements.  They've been around for over 20 years too. 

So slowly but surely we are dipping into the world of vitamins, herbs and essential oils.  So far we feel great.  We still get sick (right now I have bronchitis and a double ear infection, Harrison is getting over the respiratory flu and a double ear infection) although I think that is to be expected.  There are a lot of germs out there in the world and I refuse to use anti-bacterial products (that's another post.)

My only testimonial so far is that I was being treated by my doctor for PCOS with a diabetic drug.  I was tired, depressed, and felt ill all the time.  I gave it up and went herbal.  I can't even begin to tell you what a difference it has meant for me.  I didn't know how crummy I felt until I started feeling good again.  My biggest complaint to the doctor before was "how am I supposed to exercise when I barely have enough energy to get off the couch?"  Now I feel great, I can't wait to get up and get going.  Because I'm not tired, I have more patience with the kids, which makes their lives better... I could go on and on.

I would never tell anyone else that they had to go this route.  I would never want to be pushy (you know, I had several pushy people in my life before, and if they wouldn't have been that way I think I would have come to a more alternative approach sooner.)  How and when and why we treat our family, medically, is a private and personal thing.  There are many options, all with pluses and minuses.  No one way is the right way, and honestly we use a mixture of approaches.

I know some of you will look at my shelf and laugh, because you have an entire cupboard dedicated you your herbal supply.  Others of you will be writing me off as "one of those people"-an herbal tree hugger.  That's OK.  As my husband would say "That's just part of the Magic of Me!"

Julie wanted to see it, so I just wanted to share where we're at.