Sinusitus and Strep Throat - Winning the Battle, Naturally!

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!!

Reaping the Benefits of Herbs through Tea

I've been brewing loose leaf tea for awhile now, mostly because I have this nifty cup that makes it way easier and cooler to do it:

See?  Isn't that fun?  I got it from iHerb.com, it's made by Just a Leaf tea.  I love it.  I made loose leaf tea once before with some red raspberry leaf tea I had gotten while I was pregnant with Harlee, and just made a whole big batch of it with the leaves in a strainer hanging in a pot of boiling water.  It was a struggle, but I made it work.  Then along comes this cup, and ta-da!  Easy tea brewing for me!  Now I can buy it in bulk for cheap instead of individual bags.

What's so great about tea, anyway?  Well, people have been drinking it both for pleasure and for medicinal purposes for over 4,000 years, if that says anything.  It started as a shrub in China - the black tea shrub.  When the leaves are fermented, it's called oolong or black tea.  When the leaves are brewed fresh, it's green tea, and green tea contains a strong antioxidant called catechin, which is a bioflavoniod with antibacterial and anticancer properties.  Sweet!

The black tea shrub isn't the only plant that can be brewed into tea - many herbs were used as well such as chamomile, raspberry leaves, and sage.  Through the years, tea has now become an umbrella term to cover any brew made from the leaves, flowers, berries, seeds, roots, or bark from a plant, steeped in hot water.

Herbs are plants with medicinal properties, and throughout history they have been used by people of all cultures for their healing benefits.  Over 3,000 herbs have been studied and recorded that have healing properties to the human system, and there are still more to be studied.  Interestingly enough, some of the best pharmaceutical drugs originated from herbs, such as digitalis - a heart medicine that was derived from the herb foxglove, and ephedrine - an asthma aid derived from the herb ephedra.  These drugs contained the herbs as ingredients for years up until World War II, which is when herb shortages in Europe limited drug production and forced scientists to design synthetic versions.  Unfortunately these synthetic versions came with harsh side effects, and even more unfortunately, the herbs never made their way back into the drugs and the synthetic versions stole the limelight.

Tea is a great way to get the healing benefits of herbs into your diet and into your system.  You can also take herbs in capsule form if you don't care to drink tea.  Through tea (or capsules) you can use herbs that strengthen your immune system and build up your own natural defenses, reduce stress, rebuild strength after illness or injury, sooth your nervous system and reduce anxiety, and some even contain antihistamines to help fight hay fever and allergies.  Different herbs are good for different organs, some better for a specific gender, and some good for your age.

Herbs don't have to only be ingested, though.  Herbal teas - herbs steeped in water - can be used as skin washes, compresses for wounds and inflammation, and added to your bath both for a soak and for aromatherapy.

Red Raspberry Leaf and Oatstraw tea with breakfast

So drink up!  Grab some chamomile tea to help you sleep at night, and enjoy the fact that it's also helping you fight off infections and providing healing benefits to your digestive system.  Or brew some peppermint for nasal congestion and enjoy knowing that you're helping to detox your liver or cool inflamed joints.  Or steep some rosemary, which increases circulation to your brain to help with alertness and memory.  Remember, there are over 3,000 herbs out there.  I also touched on some of them in my post about Essential Oils, which provide a whole different opportunity for you to experience the healing powers of herbs only in a more concentrated form (and void of any properties that could cause allergic reactions if you find you're allergic to certain herbs).  Nature is incredible.  And you know I'm not a religious person but I've said before that I do believe in a Higher Power, and I believe that that Higher Power has provided us with everything we need to heal ourselves of any ailment that may befall us in our lifetimes.  Why not take advantage of those amazing blessings?  Heal your body with nature, not dangerous chemicals produced to try to mimic nature that only end up hurting these amazing bodies we've been given.

And that's my spiel on herbs and tea.  A lot of this information came from the book 20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak.  Check it out, it's got a great reference for the different healing benefits of a lot of different herbs that can be drank as teas to improve your health.  And they're quite yummy, especially with a splash of honey!

Personal Empowerment and the True Meaning of "Me-Time"

It’s my birthday tomorrow!  So I figured I’d write a “me” post and finally recap my Arizona adventure and tell you that story!  It proved to be a great combo of learning experiences, some were apparent and others I’m still processing, but most of which I’d like to share.

Towards the end of last year life kinda threw up on me a bit - found out my Granny had pancreatic cancer at the same time I miscarried our baby #2, and shortly thereafter Granny left us to be with Grandpa and everyone else on the other side.  Added in to the fact that my life was hectic and crazy anyway, I decided I needed a vacation - some time to unwind and decompress after the emotional roller coaster I'd been on.  Justin had gone on a hog hunt in Texas a couple years back with a small group of guys, so I always joked with him that I'd go on a trip for myself too to "get him back".  Harlee was seven months old the time Justin went on his trip, and I got a taste of single motherhood (I don't know how you single moms do it, by the way...).  Anyway, so I decided it was my turn to get away.  Of course Arizona was my destination of choice - I have a good friend out there as well as my uncle, not to mention it's my favorite part of the country.  Then I started talking myself out of it.  "I can't go to Arizona right now, we're in the middle of building a house,” “I’m a mom, I can’t just up and leave,” “Justin’s laid off right now, that’s financially irresponsible,” etc., etc., etc.  I'm sure most of you moms can relate to these feelings.  I continued to entertain the idea by looking into flight schedules and prices, but then proceeded to talk myself out of it.  Then, I talked to my therapist about it (yes I still go to therapy - I'm pretty much past my postpartum depression and PTSD that I was originally seeing her for, but the leaps and bounds I've made mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually have kept me going just in the excitement of seeing what happens next and how I can continue to evolve, and I don't have any intentions of stopping anytime soon!), and she pointed out that these are all excuses, but are they valid?  Can Justin really not handle things for a long weekend without me?  Can I really not take a break from the house for a few days?  No - Justin's perfectly capable, and the house progress won't be hindered by my taking a break.  Then the mother's guilt thing - could I leave my kid for a long weekend?  Wouldn't he miss me?  And I'd miss him?  Ya know, sure we'd miss each other, but I realized it would be really good for both of us.  It would be nice to not be "mom" for a bit, and he's at a good age to understand independence.  I'm not going away forever, just a few days, and I deserve to enjoy that time away.

Then, I found out a couple of friends were going down to Phoenix for the Rock & Roll Marathon - they were running the half - and it happened to be on the exact weekend I was considering going down anyway.  Coincidence? A sign?  Hmm... So I got in touch with my friend Debbie to find out her work schedule, and she explained that she had no vacation days left after having taken off to stay at my uncle's place while he came up for Granny's funeral... BUT, as she does in-home care for an elderly woman, she could have off if her client has family in town... and guess who had family in town on the EXACT WEEKEND I was looking at going?  Yeah, not coincidence, Divine Intervention at its finest, and more than enough signs to convince me that yes, I was meant to go.  I NEEDED to go.  I got everything lined up so that I could head down on Thursday the 16th, and return on the same flight as my half marathon friends that following Monday the 20th.  It was really happening.  I was SO EXCITED, and not a single bit guilty about leaving my family and responsibilities for a long weekend.

Then Harlee broke his arm the Sunday before I was to leave, and this threw a different perspective on my trip.  Suddenly I found myself feeling guilty again - what kind of mom am I to leave my poor little injured son for a long weekend?  How am I going to be able to enjoy myself being away from him and wondering how he's doing with his broken arm without me?

Then, as though by another stroke of Divine Intervention, I spoke with a man in Sedona who runs a touring business of experiencing the Sedona energy vortexes.  I had called him the week before to schedule a tour, as this was something I've been wanting to do for years, and we finally connected again to finalize plans that Tuesday after the whole broken arm adventure.  I apologized for not getting back to him, explaining what happened with Harlee, and I was definitely still wanting to set up the tour, especially now that I was dealing with mom-guilt (I hoped maybe some healing vortex energy could ease it for me).  He said exactly the things that I needed to hear - that guilt is only brought on by our society, it's not really a valid emotion in situations like this - and that teaching Harlee independence is a good thing.  Trusting he and Justin will be fine without me, and still honoring myself that I need this time away to reconnect with myself as an individual, are some important factors to consider.  His guilt comment made perfect sense.  I was only feeling guilty because that's how most moms in my situation would probably feel.  That it's almost become ingrained in me as "normal" to feel bad leaving my child for a bit.  It seems normal by society’s standards, too – last summer when we went to Mexico, so many people were shocked that we were leaving Harlee with his grandparents for the whole week and we were going without him.  And I know several people were shocked that I could be away from my whole family for this long weekend in Arizona, too.  But there's no reason to feel guilty - don't I trust my husband's capabilities as a father?  Of course I do.  Harlee's in good hands.  Do they really need me 100% of the time, to the point they're incapable of functioning without me?  Of course not.  They're fine.  Broken arm and all.  And do I need to be around them 100% of the time?  Can I function as an individual without a husband and child constantly with me?  Of course I can.  And I need to.

So.  This trip.  It ended up being just as amazing as I'd hoped.  I went with an open mind, simply looking forward to getting away and unwinding, but deep down I was hoping to get a few good life lessons out of the experience.

Funny thing is, my life lessons happened before I even set foot in Arizona.  Stepping up to personal empowerment and just booking the flight regardless of my excuses was the first one.  Harlee breaking his arm and my learning to press forward to reach a goal despite monkey wrenches being thrown into the works was the second one.  Then, I happened to have Practicing the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle in my possession during the flight, which is a small enough book that I had the entire thing read except for the last chapter before I ever got off the plane.  And I got SO much out of it.  Simple concepts that should be so obvious, but just aren't, were made apparent to me.  I spend so much time dwelling on the past, like getting hung up on Harlee's birth outcome and how horrible it was.  And then that leads me to spending so much time worrying about the future, like my next child's birth outcome and how could I ever get through it if I had to go through something like Harlee's again?  The Power of Now shared one simple fact:  the past isn't happening right now, so why am I worrying about it?  And the future isn't happening now either, so why am I worrying about that?  The only thing happening right now, is NOW, and if I'm spending so much time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, then I'm going to miss out on what's happening NOW.  It was all so obvious... and it's like I had an awakening there on the plane.  Other simple concepts were pointed out, too, like how so much of what we do is basically spent waiting.  In line at a store, at a restaurant, in a doctor's office, at work looking forward to the end of the day, even during things as simple as washing your hands, you're just waiting to get done.  Waiting for the next step, waiting to arrive at the next location, waiting to get to the next thing on your agenda.  It's interesting how one thing I wanted to try to focus on as my New Year's resolution was living in the present, and magically this book landed in my lap showing me how to do just that.  And I had a whole weekend to practice it.  Heck, I had a plane ride to practice it – instead of looking at the flight as a means to my destination, I focused on my presence on the plane – watching the scenery down below, taking in my surroundings, the sights and sounds and smells, and just enjoying being me, on a plane.

And I continued to practice it.  The trip consisted of a perfect blend of different things.  Hanging out with my friend Debbie again was a great element of it.  I spent a lot of time with her and Granny when she was living here in Illinois, and I've missed her quite a bit since she moved back to Arizona.  We used to go see movies together, the three of us, so one of the first things we did was go see a movie together, the two of us and Granny in spirit, on Thursday evening.  We saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was such a fun, heartwarming story that really correlated to a lot of what this trip was about for me - seizing the moment and embracing the present, taking chances along the way for the betterment of yourself and those around you.

Blowing kisses via FaceTime

Friday was the vortex tour in Sedona.  Sedona is becoming more and more famous as one of the locations of the world’s most concentrated energy, supposedly because of the stone laced with quartz crystal as well as the rich deposits of iron oxide.  It made me want to study the energetic properties of stones and the healing vibrations they possess – I used to be really into that, and some of you may have noticed some of the stones and crystals I have in my office – but I’ve kind of slipped out of it.  Our tour guide, Mark, was excellent – not too “out there” like some people who study energy fields and practice energy work have a tendency to be – but rather very realistic about it, confident in his knowledge, and balanced with a very down-to-earth sense of humor.  It revived my suppressed belief in energy work – something I felt so strongly about while I was in massage school, but I allowed it to get squashed out of me as my practice grew in small-town Southern Illinois, where energy work is equivalent to magic tricks and make-believe – or so it feels to me.  It was good to feel the vibration of the earth again, something I hadn’t paid attention to in years, and it was so revitalizing to be free to notice the colors of the earth’s energy again, also something I hadn’t done since I was very young, and only ever did again when I was in massage school.  In the meantime we stopped at different highly energized areas amongst the Sedona rocks, normally in places that contained a high concentration of trees that had been struck by lightning due to the area being so conductive, and interestingly enough all those particular trees had been growing in a spiral, as though some force just gripped them and twisted them.  We practiced meditations, reflections, and got to experience a few healing and energy cleansing rituals using burning sage and sound.  Debbie and I each got to share some of our back stories, as well as learning about Mark’s as a cancer survivor (and by “survivor” I don’t mean thanks to chemo but rather to self-reflection and a change of heart and mind that brought him to where he is today) and his interesting thoughts on that subject.  I shared my own experiences about how my birth experience with Harlee really pulled the rug out from under me, shattering my faith and rocking my belief system, but ultimately brought me on one of the biggest, most life-changing spiritual journeys I’d ever imagined going on.  We talked about how our most important lessons and personal evolution in life come from our most traumatic experiences, if we choose to allow the trauma to be a teacher and grow from it rather than be crippled by it.  Other important reminders were brought up as well, like how directing our attention on positive things can allow those positive things to come to us – don’t focus on what we DON’T want, but rather direct our attention to what we DO want.  Like, if you’re against war, then focus on things that promote peace rather than protesting war.  If you want better health, don’t focus on the illness you want to avoid, but rather the energy and strength and vitality of feeling healthy that you do want to experience.  And, on a more controversial note but one I feel strongly about – if you’re against abortion, don’t picket and protest outside of abortion clinics, but rather direct that energy in a more positive direction and support orphanages, or volunteer your time in finding ways to protect and care for the children that are born to mothers who can’t care for them and would have otherwise chosen abortion due to that reason.

A little off-topic, I guess, but still those are some things I’ve always felt strongly about, and it was nice to be reminded of that simple concept of staying focused on the positive things you support, rather than the negative things you’re against.  I hope it might provide a bit of food for thought for my readers, perhaps.

Energy clearing with sound

and with sage

Trees struck by lightning

How some of the trees grow in the energy vortexes

Soaking in some of the vortex energy

One of the areas of crystal and iron oxide grid patterns

Beautiful Sedona scenery

The sunset created a cool light show on the Sedona rocks

Climbing around on some of the rock formations before it got too dark out

After the tour, I felt pretty overwhelmed.  I almost had a headache from everything I took in that day, and so much to process in my mind.  We didn’t do much that evening, just checked out a crystal shop in Sedona and bought a few souvenirs, and then watched the sun set at Airport Mesa before heading back to Phoenix where we grabbed some dinner and crashed at the hotel.

Saturday we went to a Health and Fitness expo for the marathon, and then spent the day in Cottonwood, one of my favorite towns in the area (I swear I’ll retire there someday – I have a dream of being a snowbird with Justin and never seeing winter again…).  We visited the Native American ruins of Tuzigoot (which I wanted to go to simply because the name was funny, and it turned out to be pretty cool) and then checked out the shops along the street of old Cottonwood.  We went to bed early that night, as Sunday was an early morning for us.

Tuzigoot

 A couple of weeks before the trip, I thought about how I’d be going to the Rock & Roll Marathon to support my friends as they crossed the finish line after running the half marathon.  But what was I going to do up until they crossed the finish?  I thought it sure would be fun if the event also had a smaller event, like a 5 or 10k to run.  I looked into it, and sure enough they offered a mini marathon, which was a 5.4 mile run that started and finished at the same places as the half marathon.  So, on a whim, I signed up for it!  Even though I hadn’t actually run any kind of distance since early December… but I figured, if anything I’d just walk part of it if I had to.  I was PUMPED.  This would be my first time participating in this kind of event – even though the mini marathon isn’t timed or anything, I’d still get to be part of the atmosphere of the bigger races.  The cool thing was that the entire event ended in the same location – the mini marathon and the half marathon as well as the full, the bike race, and the relay race which all started back in Phoenix (the end of the event was in Tempe).  So I’d get to cross the finish line with EVERYone.

So Sunday we got up bright and early and my uncle dropped Debbie and I off at the start line where we met up with Kelly and Patty.  Debbie took pictures as we gathered in our corral, and we got to start the run together, which was awesome.  The first 2.5 miles were spent together, which made them go by so fast and I didn’t even noticed we had covered that much distance.  The mini marathon runners then split from the half marathon course, and off I trotted to the 3 mile marker, and I realized I just ran a 5k without really even noticing it.  I jogged on over to the 4 mile marker, and suddenly it dawned on me, I’m running this whole damn thing without stopping!  I called Justin to pass a little time, and by 5 miles realized I only had 0.4 miles left to run, and I picked up the pace.  I crossed the bridge to find everyone there supporting the WHOLE event, screaming and cheering and blaring their horns and rattling their noisemakers and waving their banners and signs, the road was painted with “You’re almost there!” and “RUN!” as I approached the finish line, and as I got closer I actually started getting choked up.  There was so much to take in, and I was so proud of myself for this accomplishment – my longest distance to date – and under certain conditions that I’ll write about in a future blog post but most of you probably already know :) – it was an amazing feeling.  An empowering feeling.  Almost overwhelmingly so.

Waiting to run (and trying to keep warm)

Cheese!

Starting line

I loved this

I finished!

Go us!!

I made my way over to the “family reunion” area where I was supposed to meet Debbie, but she wasn’t there yet, so I plopped down in the grass and just took everything in as I rehydrated and ate.  I thought about how I’d gotten to this point – from talking myself out of booking the flight, to the divine intervention that I’m so glad I recognized and followed, to reading that book, to the vortex tour, to just BEING here in Arizona, my favorite part of the country, after a rough ending to the year last year… just recharging the batteries and recognizing that life really is good, even if it sucks sometimes.  And making the best of things, seeing the silver linings, and making positive changes when things happen to try to bring you down.  That’s the theme of this whole journey, I guess, from 2011 when Harlee was born – not letting a bad thing destroy you, but instead rising from the ashes and becoming even stronger than before.  Funny how that’s the story of the phoenix – and here I was, in Phoenix…

Anyway.  I had a pretty good high after that run, but was pretty sore, too.  I met up with Debbie (who had her own pretty cool experience while she waited for me, by “chance” meeting this woman who had a really interesting life story and outlook – sounds like they had an awesome conversation), and we waited for Kelly and Patty to cross the finish line.  Once reunited, we headed into town and found a place to eat (after the run and all the reflection, at that point all I could think about was a big juicy cheeseburger), then hopped on the air rail and rode back into Phoenix.  Debbie and I spent the rest of the day shopping in Scottsdale, where I picked up some more souvenirs including a wind chime for the new house, books for Harlee and my niece, a little cactus kit that we’d plant when I got home, and some other goodies.  I took advantage of the jetted tub at the hotel that night and soaked in a bath of Epsom salts, which fortunately helped my sore muscles quite a bit and I wasn’t nearly as crippled the next morning as I was afraid I’d be!

My uncle and Debbie dropped me off at the airport early the next morning where I met up with Kelly and Patty.  We were going home.  And I was ready by that point.

Planting our cactus

I’ll be honest – the first couple of days I was down there I almost felt angry that I didn’t push harder to get Justin to move with me.  When we first met, I had already decided I was going to attend massage school in Arizona and start my life over down there.  I’d always been drawn to the area and felt a sense of belonging in the atmosphere.  The weather was perfect, the scenery was perfect, and that part of the country seemed much more welcoming and accepting of my natural lifestyle and desire to be healthy – organic food was easy to come by, as were herbal remedies and alternative health options.  That’s not so easy to find in the Midwest.  Then, as if by some twist of fate, Justin popped into my life and for some reason insisted I rethink my plans to move and consider going to school in St. Louis instead.  I tried to talk him into moving down to Arizona with me instead, if he was that determined to stay with me, but somehow he won out and I stayed put.  Now that I have a kiddo I’m glad to have family nearby, but there’s still a part of me that wonders… what if…  But after a weekend down there, starting out feeling frustrated that I didn’t push him harder to move with me instead, I ended up finding myself grateful for how things played out.  What kind of challenge would there be in life had I moved to an environment that was so easy for me to live my lifestyle in?  Here in Southern Illinois I have the opportunity to educate people on natural lifestyle choices, open people’s minds to alternative medicine, and encourage people to make healthy eating choices – and what that even means.  It’s hard to come by in this area, but instead of running away from it, it’s nice to know that maybe I can help bring it about.  It’s hard, but that’s how we grow stronger – through our challenges.

It was a very empowering experience and a much-needed trip.  I must say I encourage everyone to find the opportunity to get away and have a little self-discovery and recharge the batteries every once in awhile.  You can survive being away from your family for a short period of time, and they’ll survive without you.  I think it’s so important to remain connected to yourself and take care of yourself in order to provide the best care to your loved ones.  I know it did our whole family a lot of good for me to get away for a bit.  And I’m already encouraging Justin to go on another hunting trip whenever he wants!  And on the same note, go on trips just he and I, without kids along, to recharge our marriage too.  The Mexico trip last summer showed us how important that is, and my Arizona trip showed me how important me-time is.  And it also reminded me that if I want something in life that isn’t really all that far-fetched, then just quit making excuses and go for it!

The Story of Harlee's Broken Arm (And My Natural Remedy Approach)

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Harlee broke his arm.

Let me tell you that story, shall I?

Harlee's always been a climber - I can't even remember how long he's been climbing - but making his way up on top of the counter has turned into a daily occurrence.  I'll be honest, I really don't mind him sitting up against the wall while I cook - he's been so fascinated in cooking lately and I love that he wants to participate.  I encourage his desire to get involved - let him stir, crack eggs, pour, add ingredients, etc - and he loves to help.  That counter isn't so bad, too - there's only one direction to fall off, and I'm right there.  This time, however, he was up on our peninsula counter top.  There are three directions to fall off of that one, and of course he chose the opposite side I was standing on.  He was "fishing".  It was cute listening to him announce, "Fishing, Mom!" or "Look, Mom, big one!!" and dangle my tape measure over the side waiting for a nibble.  Then the tape measure fell, and he reached to try to catch it, and instead down he went with it... head-first, disappearing over the edge out of my sight.

My heart stopped, and I immediately thought the worst: "Oh my god he broke his neck."

Broken elbow - you can clearly see the break!

Thank goodness he tried to break his fall with his arm instead, leaving the rest of him perfectly intact, but I knew by the looks of his arm just dangling there, unmoving, that we had a problem.  Justin had come running when he heard both of us scream, and I immediately told him to start packing things up, we're going to the ER, NOW.  And so began our long adventure of getting our deep sea fisherman put back together.  X-rays at Red Bud Regional confirmed that he broke his arm in three places - a simple break on both the radius and ulna that could have easily been braced, but a huge fracture at the humerus that would definitely need pins to put it back in place.  The good thing about it is that he missed the growth plate, which could have caused a lot more problems in the long run.  Next came an ambulance ride up to Children's Hospital (which Harlee actually thought was pretty cool), and a loooong long wait in a small room with lots of meetings with surgeons, doctors, nurses, and people wanting to see his arm and pissing him off.  He got hooked up to an IV, and by 2am and we had a room ready, so we moved and tried to sleep.  We hoped an opening for surgery would be available in the morning, but no such luck - we had to wait until 1:30 in the afternoon to send him in, all the while trying to keep him comfortable and entertained with books and cartoons (and his mind off of eating or drinking since he couldn't before surgery).  Then came the hardest part of letting them take him away to anesthesia, crying, and then waiting waiting waiting to get the call that he was put back in place and wrapped up in a cast.  The surgery took about 30 minutes, all together the process was about 2 hours.  Back to the room we went and waited for him to wake up, then waited for discharge papers.  By 6:30 we were out of there and headed home, WHEW.

Here's the bend in his radius and ulna

Laying with Dad waiting for surgery

Pins in place to hold his elbow together

This is a week later - radius and ulna all healed!

Sleeping off the anesthesia

He enjoyed coloring on his cast

One of the reasons I wanted to tell this story is to relay to you my natural approach to handling the aftermath of all this.  Hospitals are dirty places where it's very easy to pick anything up, especially this time of year, so immediately I was concerned for his immune system.  Added to the fact that he'd been introduced to more drugs in one day than he had his entire two and a half years of life, and I was certain his immune system would need a little encouragement.  I started in on the homeopathics right away, administering Arnica 200C every half hour for about 6 hours, and by the second dose his fingers were moving like normal again.  That stuff never ceases to amaze me.  We had gotten this dosage from Harlee's pediatrician (a group that practices both Western/conventional medicine as well as natural medicine, I can't begin to express how fortunate/blessed/happy I am to have an option for healthcare like this so close to home) back when he hurt his leg when he was just learning to walk.  The way he cried when trying to move, or during diaper changes, or anytime we even touched it, led us to believe there was something going on with it that needed to be looked into.  That was his first trip to the ER and his first experience with X-rays.  Fortunately there was no break, but the doctors assumed it had been sprained.  We got him in to his pediatrician to check him out, since he was clearly still in pain and anytime he pulled himself up on furniture and tried to cruise he'd limp.  He almost had a limp while he crawled, too.  They prescribed Arnica, which I figured they would, but in a much higher dose than you can find at health food stores (which I keep on hand for sore muscles or bruises) - thus the 200C.  By the second dose the limp was GONE.  I'm not exaggerating.  He crawled and cruised again like nothing ever happened.  Amazing.  Plus, no harmful side effects - I'll take it!  So back to the current story with the broken arm, like I said, again after the second dose his fingers were moving and gripping like nothing ever happened.  Of course there were conventional drugs involved, though, as they certainly have their place.  He had been prescribed ibuprofen for pain and to help keep inflammation down, but giving it to him was a chore... He does not take kindly to that kind of medicine, but we were supposed to give it to him every 6 hours.  Well, we ended up just giving it to him upon request, which would sometimes turn into 8+ hours.  If he was hurting bad enough, he willingly took it when we explained it would help him feel better.  It would have been easier to give it to him to avoid the pain in the first place, but we couldn't quite explain that to him.  Oh well, I'm glad he didn't have to have TOO many drugs in him after all.  And I guess the Arnica was helping quite a bit with pain, too.

He always requested the "crunchy" medicine!

To help counteract all the drugs he's had in his system over the past couple days, I pumped up the probiotics.  Normally I would break open a capsule and pour half of the contents into his juice or almond milk, but this time I dumped a whole two capsules in it.  I also added a liquid multi-vitamin to his juice, and regularly applied Young Living's Thieves essential oil blend to the bottoms of his feet.  His health has remained in great shape - no mystery illnesses contracted from the hospital and no immune system compromise from what I could tell.

Another helpful remedy was also brought to my attention by a good friend of mine who's also knowledgeable on healing alternatives.  It's called Traumeel, and it comes in either a cream or tablets.  It's homeopathic and contains a combination of several different remedies for healing and recovery as well as muscle and joint pain relief.  It worked great in place of ibuprofen or Tylenol anytime he complained of pain, and I was happy to give him a tablet of that anytime he needed it rather than the ibuprofen or Tylenol, as there are no side effects and it's totally safe.  Can't go wrong with that!

Today marks three weeks since Harlee had the pins put in place in his elbow, and we just got back a little while ago from Children's Hospital to have the cast taken off and the pins removed.  He's free!  And we're all relieved - no more struggling to get dressed, crying through bath time, or waking up in the middle of the night due to discomfort.  He did great - wasn't scared of the cast saw even though it was really loud, and sat very still while they pulled the pins out.  That was really weird - he didn't need to be numbed or anything - the doc just took some pliers to the pins and slid them right out like nothing, and Harlee didn't even flinch.  He's still wearing the bandage they gave him right now, but once we change it I'll be applying some lavender essential oil to a bandaid (I just bought him some with a Cars theme today) and covering the holes with that.  Lavender is great for warding off infection and speeding up the healing process, and it's nice because it doesn't burn or sting or cause any discomfort.  I always keep it in Harlee's bag because it's an awesome alternative to Neosporin and can also work as a great bug repellent, or if you do happen to get bit it helps take the itch out of it.  It's a very versatile remedy!

So that's our story - hopefully Harlee doesn't have any plans of going fishing off of any high places anymore!

Have to show off his tattoos before they're gone

A before shot

Getting x-rays to make sure everything healed right

And after!  Getting used to using his arm again