Friday, March 23, 2012

Keeping it simple

So I finally made it to my anxiously awaited doctor’s appointment with Dr. David.  He is a holistic pediatrician that specialized in autoimmune diseases, and thankfully sees adults with these issues too.  I have known him for many years through my hippie family.

Through all my recent reading and studying I have learned in order to maintain good health that nutrition and lifestyle are vital.  Our bodies should be treated as a whole because all of our systems are connected.  In our medical system today we see specialists for each individual organ, and doctors generally do not care for your whole body.  In order for our bodies to heal we must give it the appropriate food and nutrition. All of this is inline with how Dr. David treats. He is not covered by insurance, because he spends way too much time with his patients.

Mom went with me and we spent more than an hour talking to him (yes your heard that right over an hour with the doctor).  He reviewed my medical history, went over old labs, talked about lifestyle, diet, and vitamins. He read my labs and told me results I had never heard from the doctors that actually ordered them.  I knew I was anemic, but I did not know that my ferritin (the protein that indicates iron stored in you body) level was 8 and ideally it should be 50, he said he had never seen a level this low.  He encouraged me to eat an iron rich diet and to dust off grandma’s old iron skillet and use it for cooking as much as possible. He provided an iron supplement (that is easier to digest) due to my ulcers and suggested I take C with it to help absorption.  My white blood count was low, there was a lot of inflammation and I was dehydrated.  He suggested I drink more fluids and take higher doses of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to help inflammation and modulate autoimmunity.  He also suggested daily Epsom salt baths, not only does it help inflammation, it helps flush heavy metal toxins from the body, and most of our food is magnesium deficient.  He ordered a lot more labs, and was optimistic and hopeful that I can make a full recovery.

Laying in my salt bath last night I thought about both of my grandma’s and how they really did have lots of things right.  Grandma Lesko (my dad’s slightly salty mom) always said a dip in the ocean could heal anything that ails you and turns out that she wasn’t too far off. What more natural salt soak than a swim at the beach.  Grandma Bledsoe (my mom’s slightly country mama) often used an iron skillet to cook with, she was also thrifty and reused everything.  I wish I had taken better notes from them.

It’s time for our family to simplify.  We are working hard to use less, reuse more, and eat quality foods closer to nature.   Monty is an amazing partner in this journey!!  I love that we share the same vision.

Dr. David's website-
http://www.wholisticpeds.com/


Lexy dancing with Dr. David :)

1 comment:

  1. So glad you have found a doctor who will spend the time working with you and listening! Hope all the changes you are working on start making a huge difference and you feel better soon. XOXO from OH!

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