Our Healthcare Choice

In our home, we use a lot of natural methodologies in order to keep our bodies healthy.

We take a lot of Vitamin C and Vitamin D.
We eat a lot of fruits and veggies.
We get exercise.
We use essential oils (Young Living is our preferred brand).
We try to eliminate all chemicals in our environment.
We love elderberry syrup made with raw, local honey.

But sometimes, we still get injured or sick.

We do not take antibiotics.

We do not take ibuprofen.

We do not take Tylenol.

We definitely do not take steroids.

Our choice for healthcare in the situation where we are injured (not critically) is homeopathy.

Our choice for healthcare in the situation of a sickness is also homeopathy.

Homeopathy is the idea that "like cures like". It is the treatment of disease by minute doses of natural substances that in a healthy person would produce symptoms of disease.

So the symptoms for an overdose of Beladonna are:

headache; nausea; vomiting; dry mouth; difficulty swallowing; blurred vision; dilated pupils; hot, dry skin; dizziness; drowsiness; confusion; anxiety; seizures; weak pulse; and an irregular heartbeat.

So when someone in our family has one of these symptoms (from a known or even unknown cause) like a throbbing headache we will take a Beladonna 30c homeopathic remedy. This is a very minute dose and will, usually within minutes, take away the symptoms of the throbbing headache. If the case is severe, a second dose may be needed, but that is rare.

The symptoms of Arsenic poisoning include

vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and watery diarrhea that contains blood. Long-term exposure can result in thickening of the skin, darker skin, abdominal pain, diarrhea, heart disease, numbness, and cancer.

So when we have symptoms that match these - like food poisoning - we will take the homeopathic remedy Arsenicum Album 200c. This will bring about a quick, full recovery of all the symptoms.

I actually took this remedy this week. I was having a very noisy tummy with a lot of cramping and, well, let's just say "bathroom issues" from an unknown cause. I took one dose of Arsenicum Album 30c and felt better within 15 minutes.

If you are interested in learning more about homeopathy, please watch for more resources coming soon.

Also coming soon will be an online class on how to strengthen your immune system naturally before the upcoming cold and flu season.

To make a long {health} story short....shorter

Ok, so I could totally drag our health story / journey on and on (kind of like the wonderful story of the Hobbit going on and on for 3 very long movies), so I'll condense it a little.

Dairy

Dairy from a cow is a wonderful gift from God, especially raw, unpasteurized milk. It is a blessing unless you're allergic to it, which it turns out myself and my daughters both are allergic. This allergy was the cause of all the pain (and turns out itching from eczema) I experienced for years. We did a 30 day challenge and did not even need to wait the entire time. It. Was. Obvious. Dairy had to go. That was a learning curve (especially 10 years ago when things were not labeled as well as they are now).

Cancer

I. Hate. Cancer. Everything. About. It. But blessings do sometimes come through the storms of life and the cancer journey we took with my Dad had lasting effects on our lives. One huge thing we learned is that it matters what you eat, whether you are battling cancer or just wanting to fuel your body the best way possible. Veggies matter. Lots of them. The more colorful the better. Artificial anything is bad.

Gluten

Oh the smell of yeast filled bread baking in the oven or a yummy banana quick bread baking on a cold winter day. It is heavenly, again, unless you're allergic, which it turned out my youngest is highly allergic to gluten. We learned that it does NOT matter if the allergist and dermatologist both tell you that the horrible eczema on your daughter's face is not caused by a gluten allergy - it can be. They don't know everything (but they will send you a bill which makes it seem like they think they do). We eliminated gluten, the eczema went away. I eliminated gluten in my own diet and I was able to go off thyroid medication and stopped having horrible abdominal pains. My other daughter went off gluten and she stopped having so many headaches and throwing up for no reason. So gluten is so super yummy as long as you are not allergic.

Probiotics and Immunity

One of the most devastating things I learned was how important it truly is to have a vaginal birth and to breastfeed your babies (of which I did neither for my daughters). My babies were both C-sections (one emergency and the other by choice because a VBAC scared me to death). Because of this my daughters had terrible immune systems. That was compounded by the constant ear infections as babies which meant several rounds of antibiotics for their little bodies. Their immune systems were shot. It is no wonder they caught every cold and virus that came through our community.

But now, after several years of learning more and more, we are stronger. The Lord has been gracious and prepared my mind to be in a place where I was open to "alternative" healing. We have tried acupuncture / acupressure, chiropractic care, essential oils, supplements, cleanses, and more.

There are so many wonderful benefits from those healthy choices, but for true healing, there is one methodology that has proven to out do them all.

What is it?

You'll find out in my next post.

Stay tuned.

Our Medical Journey

Migraines

Eczema

Ear Infections

Sinus Infections

Strep Throat

Vertigo

Food Allergies

Constipation

Diarrhea

Food Intolerances

Chemical Allergies

Seasonal Allergies

Joint Pain

Nerve Damage

Raynaud's Phenomenon

Hypothyroidism

Fatigued Adrenals

Brain Fog

Severe Fatigue

Gall Stones

Appendicitis

Ovarian Cysts


Do any of those sound familiar in your life? This is a list of the conditions that we face or have faced in our family. The way that we face these challenges has changed a LOT over the years and I would love to share part of our journey with you in an effort to encourage you to ask questions for your own health. Just because someone with initials after their names says something does not mean that we just do whatever they say.

Sometimes they suggest what they "think" is best. Sometimes different doctors have different opinions.

Our bodies are more complicated than modern medicine knows how to address.

I never used to even question what the pediatrician or doctor told me to do. So what changed?

My eyes were opened, unfortunately my children have suffered at the hands of my ignorance. Now we are taking our lives back.

Step #1 in our journey happened when I was pregnant with my first born. I was sick. I had horrible pain. At one of the numerous visits to the OBGYN (and I really loved my doctor and trusted her completely), I asked her about it. She said she didn't know what it could be.

So my medical career on google began. {I know you're laughing because you're guilty too}

What did I discover? Great advice! Track what I was eating with the pain and see if a fatty meal triggered the pain. Well that was easy since I love, love, love ice cream.

Boom! That was it. That meant there was a high possibility that it was gall stones, a common ailment in pregnancy because of the changes in hormones.

Another visit to the OB. She gave me some painkillers to take when the "attacks" hit. Then she sent me to a surgeon who suggested the issues may go away after having the baby.

So the last two months of pregnancy I just endured with little to no fat. It was a little like torture, especially since I also turned 30 in that time - no cake, no ice cream. Boo!

Back to the story.

To skip over the boring bits, I'll summarize. My baby girl was born via emergency c-section. I was so worried she would be deprived on my boring diet, especially since I was losing a pound a week instead of gaining. Nope. She was covered in rolls and weighed over 8 lbs.

The pain did not go away and 4 weeks later I had my gall bladder removed.

The end. The pain went away and I felt great!

Oh I wish that were the end. I had all the same pain, and now the pains from 2 surgeries. It was horrible. I was in a very low place. When I called the surgeon and told him, he said to keep taking the Percocets. What? I was a mom with a newborn and needed to get back to work soon {I was still working out of the home at that time}. I cannot keep taking strong pain killers.

So I just dealt with the pain. A lot of pain.

2 years later. I found relief.

But in the mean time, I had to learn what it meant to be an advocate for my new baby.

Stay tuned for the next part of our journey...