Oh what a week it's been. Ya know, I must commend Justin for stepping up to the role of SuperMom pretty much the entire month of January and up until he got called back on night shift mid-February. My life has been super stress-free regardless of the loads of stuff on my plate that I have to take care of. Quite often I'd think, "Wow, I really married myself a good one... I need to figure out a way to do something special for him to pay him back for all he's done for the family lately."
His coming down as the sickest I've ever seen him in the whole six years I've been with him is not what I had in mind.
But, it is what it is, and it provided us with a great learning experience and a little test of strength. And reminded me of my faith in natural healing and how amazing Mother Earth's remedies can be.
So let me tell you the story!
Usually when Justin gets called back to work after a decent lay-off (in this case he was laid off for a little over a month and a half) his immune system gets tested. Especially on night shift, when his sleep is not the greatest and vitamin D is hard to come by. Added to the work environment, which isn't all that clean, and boom, sickness. I've only ever seen him deal with sinus issues, every great once in awhile it's turned into a sinus infection but I've been able to help him beat those naturally. This time was different.
It doesn't help that crap is going around anyway. Good lord, this has been one of the worst winters I've seen in my adult life in our area. The snow and ice is one thing, and hasn't seem to be TOO bad as our road crews have done well to keep us moving, but we've definitely gotten a lot more of it than we're used to. But the illnesses, holy cow, it's insane what people have been dealing with! Pneumonia, strep, sinus infections, ear infections, stomach bugs of all varieties, not to mention the flu - influenza A, influenza B, H1N1, the works. (How's that flu shot working out for everyone?)
Knock on wood, our family has gotten off with only having to deal with small, easily treatable things. Just a short-lived cold here and there, Harlee had a little bug with a fever that only lasted not even a full day, and also got pink eye not long ago (shortly after one of his check-ups at Children's Hospital for his broken arm - I figured being in a hospital with god-knows-what floating around, especially this time of year, would more than likely send us home with something, so fortunately it wasn't anything worse than pink eye).
But then Justin got called back on nights, and for a few nights wasn't getting decent sleep as he adjusted to the new schedule, and wound up with his traditional sinus issues for a few days.
It didn't pass this time though. A few days later it grew into a sinus infection, complete with intense pressure and a fever. I got him on olive leaf extract right away, along with vitamin C and some supplements I get through Young Living Essential Oils, called Inner Defense (which is a soft gel containing the strongest immune-boosting, illness-fighting essential oils). I also took my Thieves oil and diluted it with some coconut oil (otherwise it would burn the skin) and worked it into his sinus areas - along his forehead above the eyebrows, alongside his nose and nostrils, across his cheeks and under his cheek bones, and also around his ears, throat, and base of the neck. The pressure was gone when he woke up, and the fever was broke. Horray!
But his throat was sore. So I had him try the Thieves lozenges as well as some slippery elm lozenges I picked up at the health food store in town. I kept up with the Thieves oil, knowing how powerful it is. By the weekend, his throat was swollen to the point that he couldn't speak clearly, and it was too painful to swallow food and drink. Sunday was the worst (and of course everyone is closed on Sunday). He was miserable, wanted to sleep all day, his entire mouth was swollen and disgusting, I couldn't even see into his throat, he was producing mucus and saliva constantly, and had a fever coming and going. I figured it was strep throat, but wasn't certain since I'd never experienced it before. He asked me to try to get in touch with Dr. Stratton in Waterloo, who had done acupuncture for me before when I had sinus pressure and needed to just drain (and it worked wonders!), hoping that acupuncture would help him drain all the mucus. I tried getting in touch with her, regardless of it being Sunday (and apologizing for that), but she wasn't available until the next morning. I got in touch with a friend of ours who also does acupuncture, but he was also unavailable. I encouraged Justin to drink some hot green tea with honey and lemon, along with some peppermint oil which is good to help break up mucus, hoping that would soothe his throat and be easy enough to get down through the swelling, as he needed to consume something. I tried to get him to keep up with the supplements too, but it was just too painful to swallow.
This was the tricky part. I knew it had gotten pretty bad, but I was so scared of antibiotics... I felt like we might be getting to the point where we needed to look into them, but my gut and my heart were saying to just hold out until we see Dr. Stratton tomorrow. I trust her opinion on these matters - if she didn't think acupuncture would even help at this point or if she didn't have a natural suggestion for us, she'd tell us to go get antibiotics. Here's my issue with antibiotics: read this post. I've had horrible experiences with them that resulted in years of chronic yeast infections and a compromised immune system, all because I didn't realize the repercussions of taking antibiotics and that they kill off everything your body needs to fight illness off on its own. And that's what I was afraid of for Justin - everything would get killed off, he'd had nothing left of his immune system, he'd go right back to the same work environment, lacking sleep and vitamin D, breathing in all that crap and everyone else's germs, and start back at square one. Sure I could try to build him up again, but that's hard to do after everything's been destroyed - it takes some time. But I know you can't rule out antibiotics completely - infections can travel and affect important organs and turn into life-threatening situations if you're not careful.
We decided to hold out until Monday morning and see what Dr. Stratton said.
Well, she definitely agreed it was bad, but luckily she repeated everything I had said the day before - antibiotics are not something you just want to rush right into taking, and for the exact reasons I had said - that they kill off everything you need to have a strong immune system, and he runs the risk of contracting the infection again because of it. She suggested to try the acupuncture, and to give it a day. If it's not better Tuesday, then we should look into getting him some antibiotics.
I'm going to have to write a separate post about acupuncture, it's a very fascinating subject and it's pretty interesting how it works. But wow does it work. I've had some pretty awesome experiences with it myself - it rid me of my heartburn when I was pregnant with Harlee, and then like I mentioned before, I had it done for my own sinus issues and I drained out like crazy immediately after.
So he sat there with needles in his face and hands and rested, and when we left... well... it was kinda disgusting, let's just put it that way. But that's a good thing for him, just not for me to listen to... haha.
Dr. Stratton had mentioned to us that one very effective treatment is oregano essential oil - as that's one of few things that will actually kill the strep bacteria. I happened to have some, but for some reason didn't think of using it - I was too busy using the Thieves like crazy! It helped keep it at bay, I'm sure, but apparently we needed that oregano.
We stopped at my office to grab my bottle, and dripped some in Justin's mouth when we got home. It looked like a pretty horrible experience... poor guy, I wasn't sure if he was going to cry or scream, but he said it burned pretty bad. But, that's the infection being targeted, so it's a good thing. Thank goodness Young Living oils are therapeutic grade, meaning they're so pure they can actually be ingested. He let it run down his throat to get it all back there, and then went straight to sleep. That evening we tried squirting it in the back of his throat with a syringe, hoping to bypass the taste buds at least, but it was still pretty painful. He was starting to feel a little better since starting the oregano and getting the acupuncture, and realized he was hungry - I guess so, since he hadn't eaten all this time since it was too painful! Still having difficulty with chewing or swallowing, I made him a smoothie with whatever I could find in the fridge that seemed like it would taste good - an apple, a carrot, blueberries, strawberries, and spinach. He enjoyed the taste, but it was still a little sore getting it down. Then he went to sleep again and slept until morning.
I looked into his mouth the next morning, and holy. crap. I was beyond amazed. His mouth went from looking like a swollen, gooey swamp to a perfectly normal, healthy mouth - the only abnormality being the greenish coat on his tongue. He felt quite a bit better, but there must have still been some swelling in his throat as it was still a bit difficult to talk and swallow, but not nearly as bad. Wow. Just, wow.
He squirted the oil again with the syringe, struggled through the burn, and we went back to see Dr. Stratton again for another acupuncture treatment. She was impressed with the turn-around too, saying she was afraid it had gotten so bad the oregano wouldn't even work, but it certainly did! She said he probably wouldn't get to go back to work quite yet, but by the way things were looking he should be able to the next night - Wednesday night. She applauded him for putting up with the awful taste and burn of the oregano oil, but we were all certainly happy he did. She encouraged him to continue getting enough sleep, and to avoid things like sugars and alcohol. Oh what he'd give for a beer at that point, he said. To which she replied, "Well... I guess I could add that whiskey is another thing that'll kill strep..." He liked that idea! She said if he could stand it, he needed to get it and some more oregano along his teeth and tongue, as the bacteria is still collecting in those areas.
Lots of hideous drainage happened after the acupuncture again... and when we got back home and he tried swishing with some Crown Royal he had in the cabinet. From the looks of his expression, I don't think that was quite as enjoyable as just shooting it or enjoying it on the rocks with some 7up. He also tried a drop of oregano with the Crown and swished that. Ugh, what a trooper. But after the huge turnaround he experienced, I'm pretty sure he was sold on this remedy too and was glad to finally be feeling better. Since he was able to swallow again, he got down some more olive leaf extract as well as vitamin c and garlic soft gels (garlic is a great immune booster and infection-fighter too), another Inner Defense soft gel and some probiotics. He went back to bed to sleep it off some more. I went back to work for some afternoon clients, and came back to find him feeling much better, and actually able to speak clearly again! His jaw was still a little sore, so he had another smoothie since swallowing was much easier. Swished with some Crown and oregano, took his vitamins and supplements, and went back to sleep for the night.
One more acupuncture treatment on Wednesday, the next day, and he was good to go. He could speak as clear as day again, his color was normal, the swelling was gone, and he felt energetic and healthy again. Whew! He got the go-ahead to return to work, and I must say I was more than thrilled to get back to some sort of normal life. I threw the bed sheets in the wash and made up a solution of oregano, thieves, and rubbing alcohol and sprayed it all over the couches, pillows, mattresses, carpet - everything that he was in contact with.
Oh, by the way, I kept Harlee and I boosted as well. Strep is contagious, and I sure as heck didn't want either of us to come down with it! I mixed a drop with a bit of coconut oil and rubbed it all over his chest and throat as well as mine, and continued to diffuse Thieves in the air while we slept. I tried diffusing the oregano, but found that's a bad idea - it dries things out! Great for Justin's excessive mucus problem, but not good for those of us not dealing with issues. My nose was so dry the next morning that it bled... not good! I'll just stick with the Thieves for breathing in!
Taking care of sick people takes a LOT out of the caretaker. Wow, that was a tough week! Keeping up with regular life - Harlee, business, household chores, cooking and cleaning - then on top of making sure Justin's comfortable and taken care of, keeping up with the new house and decisions out there without his help, and making sure Harlee and I don't get sick... it's exhausting. Several times I hoped more than anything that I'd get to my office to find a beach and a palm tree waiting for me... no such luck though. So I continued to go to Flex to stay on top of exercising, drank plenty of water, and did my best to remember to take my own immune-boosting supplements. Fortunately, Harlee and I remained in the clear. Thank goodness.
And that's my story! We successfully beat a sinus infection and strep throat with herbal remedies and essential oils! I'm stocking up on oregano now, so if anyone wants some for their own medicine cabinet just let me know! Obviously, I highly recommend it! But remember, do NOT take essential oils internally unless they are clearly labeled that they're therapeutic grade and safe for consumption. A lot of oils on the market say they're 100% pure, but only by the FDA's guidelines (which turns out isn't exactly 100%). You'll notice those oils warn that they're for external or aromatherapy use only. Be careful what you use - that's why I use Young Living oils - they're totally safe and, after this week's experience, obviously very effective!!
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