Category — Health

This week I went to my annual physical.  It was the first time back seeing my doctors in the “western” world of medicine since I’ve been getting help in the “eastern” side of holistic medicine.   I was kind of excited about this appointment going in.  I had copies of my tests that I had taken – it included one allergy test and two hormone tests, and a new prescription for hormones.   My health has been improving remarkably since I started down the holistic path.  I’ve lost weight, my blood pressure is down, pretty sure my cholesterol is down, hair is healthier, my last mammo was clear (as opposed to the last 2 years when I’ve been going back every six months to recheck things).  All in all, pretty good results!

Well, wasn’t I surprised when I met with my NP (nurse practitioner) to share my good news? Lol..what was I thinking…East meets West…what a freaking mess.  She was pissed when I started telling her what I’ve been up to.   She looked at me like I had ten heads…”you did what?”  “your taking what?” Apparently I was a BAD girl.  Tsk tsk..

Then she asked, “So, what did Doc So-and-so (gyno doc ) say about this?”

ME:  “Well, um, she doesn’t know yet.”

NP:  “What do you mean she doesn’t know?”

ME: “I have’t seen anyone since last year, I’m kind of in between docs.  I interviewed Doc So-and-so last year, but I wasn’t getting the answers I was looking for….”    BIG PAUSE….

NP:  Audible sigh…

ME:  “I brought my tests to show you some of the results, and….”

NP:  [cut me off] “Well, let’s take your blood pressure” and she took my test results folder and nicely put them under my jacket on the chair.

The rest of the appointment was ok, she scurried me along and we were done. She didn’t want to hear what I had to say, nor look at anything i brought except the prescription bottle I brought….which she promptly scoffed at when I told her it was a “compounded” prescription.

Bitch.  But not just her, the whole experience.  It’s a bitch.  And so unsatisfying. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it is.  Many women my age I talk to feel this way too…

And I wonder why I feel the way I do about doctors from the “west”?  If someone listened to me last year….and helped explore the way I wanted to, we wouldn’t be here today. But they weren’t listening then, and they are not listening now.  Nor are they happy with my path.  The letters spoken “ND” (naturopath doctor) are like fingernails on a chalkboard for some MDs.  Except for thought leaders like Dr. Christiane Northrup, who inspired me to take steps in the holistic direction because I kept coming up against walls where I was.

Honestly, I felt like a child who didn’t behave properly on the school playground. I was a “bad girl” because I went out of the western medicine circle.

And the best part is, I have another gyno appointment with the new doc who I met briefly last year in a “pre-interview” to see if I liked her. She doesn’t know what I’ve been up to either.  I’m wondering if my reception there will be the same, or perhaps worse because I didn’t really let her help me.  And there’s an ND who’s prescribing stuff that she normally would.   That’s probably enough to piss her off too.

But the bottom line is, too bad.  I don’t care what they think.  I feel better and AM healthier.  I believe that we need to be our own medical advocates.   We DON’T have to follow every direction from our doctors if we feel that it’s not right for us, imagine that? Having a say in our medical care?  I’m all done being the good girl who does what she’s told. Especially when it comes to my health.  I’m sticking with my intuition and will keep going in that direction.

Next week should be fun.  I’ll keep you posted.

UPDATE:  So perhaps some egg on my face…got a call back from my lab results…I’m anemic.  Makes sense really, but maybe I need to listen a little more too.  Oh well.  One day at a time here.

I read an article this morning from Andrea Conway, a law of attraction coach who shares a great perspective on LOA and how we can bring it into our lives, business, etc.  So this morning in her e-newsletter, she talks about how we can bring ourselves in better vibrational alignment with what we really want.  In her article, she suggested that like ordering a dessert, why would we order up a dessert from the menu of the universe and have it be something we don’t like?  She asks  “would you order strawberry rhubarb pie if you didn’t like it?”  Well, no..

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I love these kind of analogies because they make sense.  Our words, thoughts and desires are essentially placing vibrational orders to the universe, but then when the waitress comes, we want to send it back our order.  I’ve been there.  Andrea offers these thoughts, to help take ourselves off the hook.  She suggests we don’t really know we are doing it, it’s an unconscious thing:

It’s not always easy to accept that we’re vibrational matches to what we clearly do not want: a shortage of money, an illness, a difficult relationship. But denying our vibrational resonance to the situation only binds us to it more strongly.

If you can accept that whatever is in your life right now is a vibrational match to you, you’ve made a huge first step in using the circumstances you don’t like as springboards to something better.

So, I’m  taking a dose of this medicine right now in light of my new situation.  I will say that up to the point of my recent food allergy assessment, I had been ordering up (thinking, desiring) a way for me to make better food choices and help align my body with what it needs.  I also wanted to change my belief that weight loss is hard, and switch it around to weight loss is easy.  You know, challenging those limiting beliefs we hold, and cutting the polarization cord so I don’t keep bringing back situations I don’t want.

Andrea does offer some suggestions around acceptance which is the key to it all:

Acceptance is a way of pausing, clearing the slate, and starting afresh:

OK, universe, I accept that right now I am a vibrational match to these stale oatmeal cookies. But I declare that what I truly prefer to eat is the key lime pie.

The simple act of accepting what has happened and choosing again sets you on a new vibrational course.

Acceptance is a small step — so small that many people would dismiss it as too insignificant to matter. Yet, it is the entire key to shedding the resistance that binds you.

I guess I would have liked to “send back my order” of food allergies.  But as I’m accepting it all, I am noticing that there is no resistance, and weight loss is easier.  It’s just coming off, and I’m not thinking about it much.  I’m also not crazy hungry like I would be if I were “dieting” and thinking I could be having other things but I’m not.  The reality is, this is a new way of life.  It just is.  And by not fighting it, I’m gravitating toward re-discovering foods I have ignored or never had.

I like that part of it.  And I do feel better.  So, if I can realign myself there, where can I go next??   Seems like the field is wide open.

Have you experienced this before?

Photo Credit: www.kingshawaiian.com

I’ve always had allergies.  It affected my childhood to some degree, and they still bother me to this day.  But I never thought I was allergic to food.  I had taken allergy tests using the skin prick method years before, but food did not come up as a problem.  So, fast forward to a couple weeks ago and where I met with a naturopathic doctor who wanted to take a different kind of blood test to look at food allergies again.

“Me?” I thought?  I don’t think so. “No, not food allergies.” I said to the doctor  “Everything else allergies but not food.  I love food.  Food loves me.  I don’t have any digestive problems.  But I do have these dark circles under my eyes.” I said.

Doc said “Those are allergy shiners, a classic sign of a food allergy, the kind that is more subtle and can happen up to 4 days later after you’ve eaten something.” Great……

I had been changing my diet over the past few months (coffee) and thought I was doing good with oatmeal in the morning, a healthy wheat bread sandwich at lunch, dinner is another story – sometimes healthy and sometimes not.   But the point is, I took the darned test and it came back with allergic reactions on a majority of food and some food groups.  I was allergic to all dairy, eggs, wheat, wheat gluten, barley, oats, pork, turkey, and on and on.  Veggies like garlic and tomato – what? Did you say tomato?  Holy smokes, I’m growing 12 tomato plants in my garden alone.
I could go on and on, it’s easier to think about what I can have vs. what I can’t have.  I’m changing my diet, one step at a time and eliminating foods as much as possible.  There is a huge learning curve to this, and I am figuring out food labels.  The more I know, the more I’m shocked.  But so far so good. I’ve had a couple of set backs, but I just keep on trying.  The best cookbook I could find that fit my condition was one a diet for  AD/HD and Autistic Children, and Celiac Disease (which I don’t have). So I am learning food all over again, but going more organic, whole.  No breads, sugars, processed foods.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.  I have already seen some weight loss, I’m all for that!

So I’m living the free life now — wheat free gluten free dairy free wooo hooo….

UPDATE AUG 14:

In going with my new food plan, I decided that I would first focus on elimating the processed foods dairy and wheat, but keep some of the real fruits and veggies in my eating plan, even though a few were on the bad list.  So last night I ate a delicious tomato and basil salad, despite tomatoes being on my list.  But I figured I’d know how it would react since everything else I ate was on my “good” list.  So, in the middle of eating the damn salad, I start sneezing. Then 20 minutes later I’m using my inhaler.  I guess I am allergic to tomatoes – for now anyway.  I keep hoping that I can get back to food I love like this. But it is sobering. I’m not sure I would have really put that together without doing this plan.  And the killer is I have 12 tomato plants growing.   How can an Italian survive without tomatoes??  :sigh:  Or deal with the reaction. One or the other.

I think the hardest part is that I don’t like to identify myself as “allergic” to anything.  It’s not how my mind operates.  I wonder if that thinking keeps me in that vibrational pattern or not.  Time will tell.