Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Story-Time Tuesday - If Good Health Was Easy...

I'm making myself write this story. Partly because my Naturopathic Doctor just published a very interesting book and I want to share it with you. Partly because I'm pushing myself to write more. And partly because I think this story might be YOUR story. And sometimes reading makes pain hurt a tiny bit less. This story will be pretty candid...I'm not attempting 'the glass half full' philosophy here. I know it could be worse.

I'm using the Story-Time Tuesday format for this and each week I will be doing a giveaway for "A Different Kind of Medical Care" but Dr. Tina Marcantel.


You can read about this book by clicking here.

I will have Mr. Jenny select a random number from all the comments on this post. Feel free to enter any time before Monday.

Winner will be announced next Tuesday along with the continuing story. Autographed book will be mailed out on Wednesday or as soon as I get your address!

The winner of last weeks book is this comment:

"Alone again.... naturally!"said...
I fired my old dr and in the process of looking for one like you have! I am so tired of feeling like I am being ignored and disregarded. I have gone to him for the same thing a few times and every time I come out of there with something different and no further ahead on a diagnosis and he is constantly contradicting himself....NO MORE!

Congratulations!   If you could e-mail your snail mail address (jennymatlock at cox dot net with the words BOOK GIVEAWAY) and I'll get the book out to you before Friday!


Jenny Matlock

PART SIX - IF GOOD HEALTH WAS EASY, EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE IT!

(Sorry this is super-short!   I somehow missed the fact that Christmas is in three weeks!  ha!   Good news for you, though, is there's extra book giveaways!)
 
While Mr. Jenny was out shopping for all the specific foods I needed, I re-read  the saliva testing instructions.

To be frank, I’d never even heard of saliva testing. Sure, I’d had a ton of other things done but never that.

There were a few big tubes and a lot of little tubes and I read and re-read it trying to make sense of it.
When Mr. Jenny finally returned with several bulging bags filled with sugar-free, gluten-free, yeast-free, preservative-free organic yumminess, he deciphered the instructions and told me he would help me the next day.
I recall taking a handful of supplements that night. I don’t know if there was that many but it felt like I was swallowing forever: magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, candida cleanse, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium and I don’t even remember.

I cut my pain-pill in half that night which turned out to be a mistake in the wee hours of the morning, but the next day awoke with a tiny bit of hope in my heart.

The saliva testing proved to be a bit hard to figure out at first. No bubbles, no this, no that and that first tube seemed to take forever to fill.  I think it was just me, though.   I had a hard time making sense of anything in those pain-filled months!


Doing the blood tests a bit later in the morning was a lot easier.

By the time I was done spitting and fasting, I was cranky and starving.

I ate organic turkey and black olives and sugar-free hummus and celery. No dairy, yeast, sugar, gluten or preservatives of any kind seemed pretty difficult.

The rest of the day was a continuation of filling tubes with saliva, swallowing handfuls of supplements, crying, and feeling generally hostile to the world in the general.

It wasn’t until Mr. Jenny got fearfully into bed with me (apparently I was snarling even more than I realized that day!) that I recognized my heart arrhythmia felt less severe.

“Probably just wishful thinking,” I pondered as I fell into a drug induced sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT TUESDAY


Part one - linked here.
Part two - linked here.
Part three - linked here.
Part four - linked here.
Part five - linked here.

PLEASE READ BOOK GIVEAWAY INFORMATION AT THE TOP OF THIS POST.
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20 comments:

Janie Junebug said...

I have a general feeling of hostility toward the world at the moment, but I can sum up the reason in a single word: mentalpaws.

Love,
Janie Junebug

Gail said...

I sense hope here. I know the ending but the horror leading up to the way to the cure hurts me.

I am so glad you found this lady.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Saliva testing sounds hard, but I too can tell this has a much better ending then beginning! Now get back to Christmas!

hugs, Linda

Ms. A said...

Can't help wondering how big those tubes were? (and imagining the gross process to fill them)

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

ok, I feel a little more hopeful now!

pasqueflower said...

Waiting for the happy ending. What a difficult road you've traveled. My cousin is a natural health practitioner. I'm definitely open to the concept. I hate the traditional medical/insurance establishment.

H said...

My eldest has eczema and has been trying to cut out dairy. Eliminating just that single food group is proving a nightmare, so I don't know how you coped with finding foods which were also sugar free, gluten free..!! I'm hoping this is now heading in the right direction!

Also, kudos to Mr Jenny!! Wow, what a guy!!

noexcuses said...

I love the word "hope". It's something that belongs to you and cannot be taken away from anyone. I made a lifestyle change with my food about nine months ago. I cut out sugar and white flower, and later whole wheat. I also joined a very caring support group. Big time changes in my well-being both physically and emotionally. I'm grateful that I found my way, with help from some very special friends. I am so happy that you have found your way, too, and look forward to reading the remainder of your journey!

Naperville Now said...

waiting patiently for the wrap -- how about tonight?
xxx, Sue

myletterstoemily said...

i sure hope this story has a happy ending!

Jo said...

I am not the only one thinking that there is hope ... and hope is such an amazing word ...
the saliva testing sounds gross ...
sending you lots of hugs through the airwaves ...

Sue said...

Well, you have me hooked for sure. Patience isn't a virtue I'm good at...I want details now! I certainly don't have anything like this going on, but I have wondered at times if I would feel better without gluten and dairy...I just haven't been motivated enough to try it.

LLM Calling said...

No, this is taking too long, I'm hooked and need to know what comes next because I'm thinking it's go to be great.god bless

Busy Bee Suz said...

This sounds promising. Not the saliva test...the end though. :)
XO

The Quintessential Magpie said...

I am still amazed at everything you went through, Jenny. You are, indeed, my hero!

XO,

Sheila

Unknown said...

You and Mr Jenny are my heroes; such brave souls. God bless!

Rita said...

I was in a test group at a local college once and we had to do saliva testing. They used a sponge-like thing on a stick and you had to keep in in your mouth for a minute and then put it in a tube. Sounds a lot easier than what you had to do. I had no idea saliva can measure stress response...and probably many other things.
I'll be waiting for the next installment! :)

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Oh, Jenny, I read this and went back to reach the whole series, and my heart goes out to you. I can't imagine living with such severe issues for such a long time. My experiences with yeast overgrowth and fibromyalgia have been very mild compared with your long journey. I hope you are doing much, MUCH better now. And I hope you have a lovely Christmas.

Unknown said...

I had to get all caught up on the story and I sit here with tears. All that you have been through... I can't wait to keep reading:-) Happy Holidays!

Susan Anderson said...

Not sure how I missed reading this, but boy can I relate. I went through hell after my hysterectomy and oophorectomy, which happened when I was only 39 years old. I am certain I have aged ten years more than I would have otherwise. Today I am 63 but my body is more like 73.

I finally did get a measure of relief using bioidentical hormones. But the first year or so I had tachycardia that ran anywhere from 120-180 beats a minute, all the time. Mood swings were unbelievable, and brain fog was pretty bad, too. If I hadn't had my children to take care of, I'm not sure I would have made it. I went to so many doctors and alternative medicine experts that I couldn't even begin to list them all.

The effects of hormone loss have been far reaching for me, and I am glad that they don't remove these organs quite so easily today. I am also glad that I found at least a partial answer with my compounded hormone replacement therapy. The premarin was terrible!

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