A Tale of Two Diagnoses
Three or four years ago I suffered a debilitating illness.
Basically I had diarrhea for three weeks, non-stop.
What started out as, probably what I thought of as a “flu” or a minor bug, became increasingly draining (no pun intended).
I lost over 20 pounds, became weak and lethargic, and, finally, couldn’t even sleep through the night.
Finally, lacking health insurance, I checked myself into a hospital at 2:00 in the morning. By that point my face was so gaunt that I didn’t recognize myself and I literally could not eat anything.
The hospital put me on intravenous fluids and began a dose of strong antibiotics. I was given a CAT scan or two and examined by any number of doctors, including a specialist. I was in the hospital for just shy of a week. And they never did diagnose me, although I was given a prescription for a colonoscopy.
They discharged me when I finally had a solid bowel movement and was able to keep food down.
Oddly, I’d always been blessed with a cast-iron stomach.
Back in the days when I worked in newspaper advertising, every Saturday, when we’d “put the paper to bed” (newspaper lingo for sending it off to the printers – it was a weekly), we’d all head on over to Pete’s Coney Island in Pontiac where I’d eat five – yes five – coney dogs with double onions.
I like to eat and, fortunately, I also like to exercise.
But suddenly I had a delicate stomach. I had to watch what I ate, lest my bowel issues arise again.
And I still didn’t have health insurance – and didn’t relish the idea of having a camera up my butt anyway – so I began to investigate alternative health.
I started with Dr. Natura, this bowel cleansing product with a really cool website where people actually post graphic photographs of their dumps!
It’s fascinating!
You just wouldn’t believe what comes out of people … or that they actually pull it out of the toilet and photograph it!
I have to say that I liked the Dr. Natura program. I never had anything worth photographing (then again, it is doubtful anything was LEFT in my colon after the three weeks of draining), but it got me regular and I no longer suffered from diarrhea while I was on it.
Still, once I had completed the Dr. Natura cleanse and as time passed and I still occasionally suffered from whatever it was that I suffered from, I continued researching.
The Diagnosis
I finally came to the conclusion that what had ailed me for that month had to do with the fact that, upon moving to Philadelphia at the age of thirty, I had developed chronic sinus, ear and throat infections owing to the filthy air quality. Between 30-40 (I had health insurance back then), doctors had regularly prescribed antibiotics to me. I was dosed with antibiotics at least once a year. Immediately prior to the health issue that had landed me in the hospital, I had again been dosed with antibiotics – for a sinus infection. Just as I was completing the round of antibiotics, I suffered what probably would have been a mild case of food poisoning (Houlihan’s). Because I now had no bacteria in my gut – good or bad – I was unable to fight the food poisoning … leading to my eventual hospitalization.
The Treatment
Now that I knew what ailed me, I found that probiotics and fiber cured my tummy troubles on a pretty consistent basis. If I feel that I might be heading backwards, I dose myself with Dr. Ohhira’s probiotics, which I have found to be the absolute best.
I have to wonder where I would be today if I had gotten that colonoscopy … if I had continued with traditional medical treatment.
I doubt very much that I would be well.
One of my best friends, who is the same age as me, did experience the same symptoms that I did. She did not end up in the hospital because she had health insurance.
She has been diagnosed, over the past three years, with diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, possibly Crone’s disease, and a host of other ailments and been prescribed countless medications.
She has been so sick that she was put on medical leave from her job.
It was only when she ceased the rounds of doctors’ visits and flushed her medications down the toilet that she began the process of healing.
As our country sets out to finally remedy the health insurance crisis I wonder if they will take into account one simple fact.
American medicine is all about symptom prevention and pharmaceuticals – and nothing about cures.
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By: Twitter Buttons
I’m a self-employed single mom and I was 52 years old on my last birthday. I’ve worn a lot of hats in my life ...from eBay PowerSeller to caterer to nonprofit development director to admin assistant to model to owning a graphic design business to serving as marketing director for an architectural firm to political campaign treasurer. This blog will follow my attempts to turn my life around in 2009 using my self-designed 2 Habits a Week program. Read along as I strive to become a successful Internet Marketer/entrepreneur, a better mother and human being, and achieve the best body of my life (not necessarily in that order). Follow me on Twitter (2habitsaweek)!
