Health Business

     Yesterday, I traveled to Dallas for my 3 month exam so health is on my mind. I developed the need to learn about the problems affecting me before I make any decisions about the treatment or management or my diseases. This makes me a giant pain in the butt to any doctor because healthcare is a BUSINESS above all other things so when an individual doctor goes against a treatment protocol they will have to answer for it at some point. I greatly respect any doctor who is willing to do this but I digress.

     BIG REVEAL: I am a crunchy person or a granola or a hippie, whatever you prefer. What I really wanted to talk about today is herbal remedies. I know this is a long post but please stick with it. I'd like to share my adventures in natural cures.

     I found out about my liver disease about 8 years ago. I spent the next 6 years too young, too overwhelmed and too scared to do anything but blindly follow my doctors orders. Over the course of those 6 years my disease was out of control. It would get better it would get worse but I would always feel sick. I almost died from meningitis even though I was vaccinated against it. Then I almost died from the swine flu. These are not exaggerations but they were the most severe cases. Even so, I spent about 25% of each year sick with some kind of contagious illness because I had no immune system.
     I was tired and angry. So I decided to get involved in my own treatment. I looked up the medications I was on and discovered that they had a bad habit of suppressing immune response. Lovely. That's exactly what I wanted. So I went to the doctor and told him that I didn't want to take that medicine and asked about other options. His reply: "You are so sick that it doesn't matter what we do to your immune system or what medicine I give you it's not going to help."
     That is when I realized that this particular doctor did not want me to get better. He wanted me to get sick enough to need a transplant so he could be finished with me. From this point on I refused to take anything he prescribed me before thoroughly researching it and found that everything he tried to give me to "treat" my disease had side effects like: immunosuppression, liver cancer, brain cancer, leukemia, and various other horrible things.

    I refused his "treatment" and went off on my own researching ways to boost the immune system and to heal the liver outside the confines of the health business. Now I take a cocktail of herbs and vitamins every day including things like Milk Thistle and Dandelion Root (for the liver) and a very large amount of Vitamin D (for the immune system).

     That was two years ago and I haven't had to visit a doctor for anything contagious the entire time. Not even once. My liver is still bad, but it has stabilized. I actually feel good most of the time as opposed to exhausted and weak. To me, it is a miracle and I feel amazingly free.

     I'd like to finish by giving you all some references that you can use to learn more about herbal medicine. I'd also like to say that most of the time a doctor tells you something they are right and you should listen to them but always use your brain. Read the labels on the medicine and decide for yourself if the side effects are worth what the treatment gives you. If something your doctor tells you sounds illogical it probably is and second opinions can change your life. Always remember that fully trusting another human with the only body you get is a big deal. A good doctor will never make you feel silly or bad for asking a question and will respect any decision you make about your healthcare. A great doctor will encourage you to make informed decisions just like a friend would.♥

Searchable database of herbs by ailment: herbalremediesdb.com
General information about herbal use: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/herbal-medicine-000351.htm
Good start to leaning about Vitamin D (I Love VitD btw): http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/22/low-vitamin-d-increases-flu-death-risk-in-kids.aspx

     Also, just because a herb is not approved by the FDA does not mean it isn't safe. If you are interested in a particular herb do some research because many herbs are being used in other countries by actual doctors with government support! Expand your views!

     If you made it this far I would like to say that the tumors in my liver are the same size as before which is the best news I can get excluding them magically dissolving!

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain