Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Trail Blazing a New Path

For the first time in 24 years I have recovered from a sever bout of bronchitis and asthma without antibiotics and without steroids. I was motivated. I don't want a hip replacement. Steroids right now could be the death blow to that joint so I had to find a way.

Why is it that we as humans won't look for a change or an answer unless our backs are up against a wall? If you read my blog you know that I was about to have a nervous breakdown at just the thought of a hip replacement. I know too much, I really understand the risks of a surgery of that nature and I didn't want anything to do with any of it. Yes, I know it works, and people have them every day. I also know about post op infections with super bugs that don't respond, infected hardware, allergic reactions to hardware, the potential to throw blood clots, and on and on. I just don't want it.

Inquiring minds want to know. I began to ask. Specifically I asked Rosie Kate over at paintsplashes because she seems very knowledgeable about nutrition. She also isn't a vegetarian, which I have tried. That diet does not agree with my body. I get fat and sluggish, not good. It's not that I am a raving carnivore but being a vegan or a vegetarian has never had a good result for me. She sent me an e mail with links to the Weston Price Institute and also recommended Sally Fallon's book "Nourishing Traditions." The rest as they say will soon be history.

Where do I start? First of all get the book. If you don't want the book go to these two websites and read everything you can get your hands on. Let me add that the first 80 pages of this book is her thesis, the following pages is a cookbook with side bars full of information on each page. It is a gold mine.

Also look at




this website. Joel Salatin is a featured speaker on this video clip and he has a website, a blog and some books that he has written on small healthy farming.

There is a wealth of information along these lines out there for the taking.

So you say, why this way? Why not the way I have always done it? I have been studying nutrition for years, why should I listen to you?

Your right, you don't have to listen to me. I am not a nutrition expert. I am a disease expert. In my 16 years of nursing the end result is that I feel the most comfortable helping people except their death and offering another shot of morphine. That is what happens most of the time in Oncology and ICU. I also have worked for hospice. What the patients have in common is that they are all so addicted to junk food and soda pop that they stock their hospital rooms with it. As I read, first of all from a perspective of organic chemistry that I can appreciate and understand, I found the train of thought very logical. The evidence sighted and the studies done that she draws her conclusions from are outstanding pieces of research in their own right. People all research is not equal. Some research is statistically manipulated. Having a study done for the sake of the knowledge that it will reveal REGARDLESS of the outcome is a rare thing. Most people enter into research looking to prove a theory they have, and some will not let the evidence change their minds.

I believe that this approach to health is right. It answered years of questions, years of observations and my own personal health. The immediate result is that by gagging down multiple spoonfuls of high quality butter/cod liver oil from Radiant Health, I have spontaneously recovered with out drugs. I wish I could convey how huge that is. See me jumping up and down wildly? Actually not, but in my heart I am and with joy. I intend to pursue this as far as I can. The idea to offer people something besides comfort and a prayer has me overjoyed. I know that some people won't listen. I know that some people will never give up diet soft drinks, sugar, and processed foods. But there are some that will! There will be some that will side step the demon of cancer, there will be some that heal their arteries and veins and regain a healthy heart, there will be some who find their emotional health restored and their chronic fatigue banished. It can happen. It is not too late for YOU. If you are alive it is not too late.

I found an MD who is practicing medicine in this way. His name is Dr. Thomas Cowan and he has a book "The Fourfold Path to Healing." He practices in San Francisco CA.

We can not be totally whole and healed unless our hearts and souls are also well. A bitter person is full of poison that no man can touch. We have to forgive. We are not just sum parts of chemical reactions, we are made in the image of God. We have spirit and soul. The body is just the vehicle for these much bigger parts to live in. So total health must address all aspects of a human being.

Speaking of heart and soul. Please pray for Heidi over at The Milkman's Wife. They are facing some very painful decisions and need our love and prayers. Go by and see her and leave her a kind word.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your new journey. A healthy living journey is fun, but remember it is a journey. Small steps at a time as you learn more and more. I'm on year 8 of my journey and find more and more ways to eliminate junk from our lives. I pray that my children are blessed by my efforts to give them a better start than most.

joanne said...

This is a fantastic post and has really got me thinking. I am luckily not a sugarholic but I can make other changes. I will be looking for this book..it is the kind of book I will devour. I love having the information to make the changes needed to help my body heal. Thanks so much KD...I am happy to be on the journey with you!

Karen Deborah said...

Thanks for the comment and the encouragement Christi, do you have a blog?

Unknown said...

I do. I've been thinking about posting more of my healthy living ideas on it. It really is a learning process. Btw, I love that book! Another interesting one is What The Bible Says About Healthy Living....although warning, you probably won't ever eat pork again after reading it. ;-)

Unknown said...

sorry, here's my blog, lol
www.lachpachpics.blogspot.com

Tricia said...

Congrats on healing so quickly. Eating right does go a long way toward health. God bless.

Trudy said...

I think you are so right, in each way--the way we eat AND the way we love our neighbor (or don't!). We can not be God's workers if we ask for our daily bread but don't take the time to eat it with thanks.

And, if we cannot forgive the ones we are hating in our hearts, we cannot expect true forgiveness from our Heavenly Father. We may be saved, but I don't think we will truly EXPERIENCE His forgiveness unless we let go of what we hold against our brothers and sisters.

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Here here! I havealways been a big believer in what we put into our body...and soul...either hurts or heals us. Being proactive, and learning is the best way to health!

Mental P Mama said...

I couldn't agree more about the eating business. I know what I need, and when I don't pay attention to that, and eat the wrong stuff, I suffer. I have to have meat every once in a while. And that will just have to be...sending good thoughts and light your way!

Debbie in CA : ) said...

"Let food be your medicine" said Hippocrates -- advice that has stood the test of time.

I so enjoy the thrill of learning a new way to walk the pathway to health and harmony, and the joyful surprise in finding so much familiarity along the pathway as we journey toward wholeness. Not to mention, FOOD IS FUN!

enJOY the renewal and revival and all-fired fun of trying new recipes and techniques. As you well know, I have been a health-nut forever (it seems) and have found the key to health involves natural, whole, God-made food . . . "No thanks, I'll pass on that EXPENSIVE/RISKY man-made subsitute.

The best part: The learning delights and challenges me every day.

It is SO MUCH MORE FUN to dance down the pathway to health with so many companions.

Praise God for your healing without scads of bottles, tubes, and all the rest.

He is able . . . more than able.

Tracy said...

There is no doubt that diet plays a huge role in our physical and mental wellbeing. I still eat to much sugar. Sugar is my downfall, but I'm working on it. A couple of years ago I stopped eating processed foods as best as I could, and fast foods. That change is what lead to my baking bread and canning my own foods. This way, at least if it is processed, I know exactly what's in it. I feel so much better today than I did years ago. I think back 20 or 25 years and remember how tired and crummy I felt...all of the time! So sad. At least I get it now. I'll have to check out these sites and the book. Knowledge is power for sure!

Karey Swan said...

That Nourishing Traditions book is great! I haven't even scratched the surface of all it's info. I keep saying I'm going to take time to read it thru ... maybe this winter.

You can make your Artisan bread, but let the beginning 'sponge' sit 12-24 hours! Then it's broken down and more easily digested and usable to the body.

Anonymous said...

I am definitely going to look into all this. I do believe in the benefits of proper nutrition... I have several incredible stories. However, it is really difficult when Daddy isn't on board, ya know? Fortunately, that is changing and I'm excited about the possibility of making some lasting changes round here.