It always amazes me how, once one has made a decision, life looks a little rosier. It may not be the 'right' decision (how would one know?) and it may not be the easiest decision. But it's a decision...
After 2 years and 4 months of E's on/off coughing (mostly on), thousands of rands spent on medical bills, countless sleepless nights, an increasing number of grey hairs and wrinkles, I've come to a point where I can no longer continue. I cannot continue to see her cough the way she does every 3 weeks. More importantly, I can no longer expect her to continue in this same way.
We've tried new doctors and new remedies, from Western to Chinese to homeopathic. We've tried acupressure (not acupuncture) and kinesiology.
We settled on a combination of Chinese and homeopathic meds and alternate between kinesiology every month, and acupressure when the cough is bad.
But still that cough continues. This last time was the worst time and I've now put my foot down! Someone needs to do something. The homeopath is fantastic but she needs to do more. The kinesiologist is awesome but we can only see her once a month. Bottom line is that E has to go through this every month (as do we), she misses out on school, on parties, on seeing friends. She has 4 days a month when she cannot eat, sleep or speak. I, as her mother, cannot see her go through this again - or not this often, anyway. I worry about the long term effects of such a cough. And so, in true mom fashion (because let's admit it - it's what moms do - not the specialists, but the moms) I started to look for something more.
Now to say that I've learnt a lot about medicines since October 2008 is an understatement. I've also learnt to stand up to the doctors and as a result I expect a hell of a lot from them, I expect their undivided attention whilst in a consult, I expect them to be available whenever I need them - and as practitioners of medicine, I expect them to be as dedicated to bettering the health of my daughter as I am! So, yes, I am one of those nightmare mothers who knows our doctor's number off by heart and has no qualms about texting her on a Sunday afternoon should I need to! The kind of mother that all doctors roll their eyes at - but I really don't care :-) Luckily our fabulous, talented and extremely patient homeopath now knows me well enough to not take offense to my frustrated rants, she listens to my tearful calls and she squeezes us in for an appointment whenever I need her to. Thank you Jo!
I spoke to her about my fears and she backed me up when I told her that I felt the need to consult a paediatric pulmonologist. I didn't want his meds, I only wanted his diagnosis - in case there was something we were missing. Two years ago I would have walked into such a specialist's office with such admiration and respect that if he had told me he could make me walk on water, I would have believed him. I would have placed the health of my daughter in his hands and I would have given her all - ALL - the meds he prescribed.
Not so in February 2011. This time I knew a lot more and was ready to make the doctor work for his money. He did his tests - great stuff. I learnt even more. But then he sat me down and gave me the spiel that he obviously gives to all - ALL - parents. He made me so angry that I could barely see straight. He made me feel as if I had taken a giant leap back to March 2009 when we saw our first specialist. Because he labeled her, because he could not offer me more than he would have were I sitting in his office two years ago, because he was not willing to consider an alternative. He labeled her asthmatic and told me that one of the symptoms is her sleeping with her mouth open - which she does not. She doesn't wheeze. She doesn't battle to breathe. Don't label her asthmatic because that's what you think you should do! He prescribed Deselex; Sterimar (hourly - yeah right!); Avamis; Flixotide and Ventolin (all to be given to her on a daily basis while she is well) - the only new one in the last two years being Avamis. I told him that I knew them all, that I'd tried them all. That they had made no difference and that I had promised E after Flixonase had made her nose bleed, that I would never give it (or anything similar) to her ever again - and he told me that I hadn't done tried the meds with him, that he would walk the path with me but that I had to prepare myself because she would get worse and then we would change the Flixotide spray to Flixonase nasules, add Iliadin; Singulair and an antibiotic...to the mix. I told him, politely (with tears in my eyes because in my frustration I had forgotten my need for a diagnosis and not a treatment): thank you, but I wouldn't be needing his prescription right away. In all fairness, he's probably a very good doctor. He was very sweet with E and patient with me (initially), and he did what he knew how to do. I do understand that he has a 'pharmacy' of medicines to choose from and that he works with what he knows. What I do not understand is the single-mindedness of western practitioners - how they will not treat each person uniquely and will not take the emotional state of a person into consideration. Now I'm hoping that I'm generalising here - that the many doctors we've seen, fall into one category and that there are others who do manage to think out of the box a little. The doctor was completely taken aback and his receptionist was most confused when I didn't book another appointment, but with a great flourish billed me R1 450 for the inconclusive tests and the consult. I got home and my ever-calm S reminded me of why I had gone to see the doctor in the first place...
And so I started to look around some more. But before I start with that, let me tell you that all E is on at the moment is a homeopathic constitutional remedy; a multivitamin and 5ml of colloidal silver a day...
Along came something called Auto Sanguis or Eigenblut therapy. Auto being 'your own' and sanguis being 'blood'. I met with a young doctor on a Saturday morning, he didn't charge me for the consult as it was more a discussion of what he does rather than a consult, and he proceeded to fill me in on this alternative therapy. Auto Sanguis therapy requires taking a sample of a patient's blood and diluting it to a point where the blood becomes detoxified and highly therapeutic. In other words, what is wrong with you is circulating in your blood and by diluting the blood and giving it back to you, it stimulates your own immune system to antidote what is wrong and promote healing andreannarainville.com/pdf/autoSang.pdf. The blood is usually given back to the patient as a series of injections over a period of time. In E's case, as a child, it can be given to her as 12 week course of drops.
Now I, as a child to parents who have both survived cancer, will be the first to say that 'western medicine' has its place - it cannot be overlooked - this last time E was sick I did give her an antibiotic but it was the first one in 18 months, and I do give the girls Calpol or Nurofen when they're in pain, but in some instances, when the problem is not life-threatening there has to be an alternative and Auto Sanguis therapy makes sense to me. To take ones own blood and use it to heal oneself makes sense. And so, the next time E starts to cough we will take her along to this new doctor. We have to try, even if we only have a 70% success rate, it may mean that she gets 'the cough' once every 3 months instead of once every 3 weeks - and that really appeals to me, because late at night when I hear that first cough and I recognise it as 'the cough', my heart jumps into my throat and my stomach twists into a knot. If E gets 'the cough' once every 3 months, she will learn that she is strong and healthy - because she is! She will not believe - as she does - that she is unwell - because she isn't!!
You may have been wondering why I believe so sincerely in homeopathy when after over 18 months of treatment E still has the same cough - it's because it's my belief that I'm doing the best for my children that I can. In her two years, J has not taken an antibiotic. I'm not putting antibiotics or cortisone-based medicines into their systems every few weeks. The meds I give them do not lower their immune systems or kill the digestive bacteria in their guts. Each homeopathic treatment helps to strengthen their systems naturally. The meds are safe (within reason), they don't induce drowsiness, they can be given to tiny babies and taken whilst pregnant (I would always suggest supervision with babies and pregnancy). Theresaremedyforthat, check it out and take control of your own coughs and remedies :-) I'll even give you the number of the sales rep I use.
I'm so passionate about this subject, this isn't the last you'll hear of it!
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