When I was newly married 12 years ago, I began a journey that I did not understand the full repercussions of, and probably still don’t. I know where it has brought me so far, but there is just no way to tell where I have yet to go.
As a new wife I was so excited to take care of my new family of–well two, just me and my husband Brandon. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I was eager to be the best at it! By grace we were both young and not so set in our ways, so we were able to learn, and change and find our way with little to no strong opinions on “the way things are done”. When my husband got sick he had his “method” of healing. He loved his Vicks Vapor rub, his nyquil, and a hot shower followed by wrapping up in blankets to sweat it out, but as I would learn, he was willing to graciously give other things a shot.
I was beginning to take interest in natural “stuff”, eating healthy, and using “home remedies” for things. So for Christmas one year I asked for a book called Homeopathic Medicine at Home. Best uninformed thing I ever did. I had no idea what homeopathy was, I had no idea what this book was really about, but my Dad bought it for me, and I think I read half the book the same day I got it. I was captivated by this treasure, this best kept secret, this whole system of medicine that went against the grain. Fevers are good? You can support your body’s functions when you get sick in order to overcome an illness and not just treat the symptoms? Allopathic (new word to me!) medicine treats symptoms and not the root illness? Homeopathy is not using toothpaste for a pimple, its an actual system of medicine? I was hooked. What’s more, I was intrigued with this idea that “like cures like”.
What was this thing I had found by accident? Why had I never heard about it before? Why had the American Medical Association tried so hard to stop it? Does it really work? I decided that the only way I would know for sure if it worked was to get rid of the medicine cabinet contents and start replacing what we had with these so-called “remedies”. My husband kindly asked me to please not throw everything away at once. He has always been so indulgent of my whims and ideas. He’s so tolerant and open-minded and if it were not for that I would not be where I am today. He’s truly amazing.
I began devouring information. Around that same time, I read a book I heard about from a couple of friends called “The Maker’s Diet” I was just amazed at his story, at all the things he talked about and I decided I needed to try this. I really needed some help in the area of gut health. I struggled so much with digestive woes. I loved reading about how food was real medicine that our bodies need and can use to heal, eating dirt, eating clean, grass-fed beef, raw milk! This was a treasure trove of goodness I was thrilled to be discovering. This, along with my new found remedies, I felt like I could take on the rest of my life, and I was ready to revolutionize the world so far as I could reach. I couldn’t wait to get sick so I could try out my remedies. I began to feel better on this diet, and be more aware of what we were putting in our bodies, and it was such a time of change for us.
That summer, Brandon had a small rash on his arm that was intensely itchy. It looked like a spider bite but when it continued to spread and become more and more unbareable we became concerned. It spread up his arm, then to his chest, it was all over his body and arms. It was the weekend so we couldn’t see our doctor. When his chest began to feel tight and he felt it was painful to take a breath we decided to go to the ER. The ER doctor had no idea what this was, he thought maybe a hair follicle infection… He left the room, the nurse came in several minutes later looked at his arm and said “oh, poison ivy huh?”. We informed her that the doctor had told us he didn’t know what it was! The doctor came in, and upon further evaluation concurred that yes, perhaps this was the case. He prescribed prednisone to quiet Brandon’s immune response, and antibiotics because with a dysfunctional immune system he would be more susceptible to illness and infection.
We left, and I said, you’re not going on that stuff! That makes no sense! I knew enough by now to know that shutting down the immune system and then giving more meds because of the first medication, was ludicrous, and I also knew what antibiotics would do to his gut flora. So I told him, “I read in my book that there is a remedy for poison ivy and I would love to try it!”. He conceded to try my “remedy” (I told you! if it were not for his love for me…) and see if it helped, but if it didn’t help he would get the prescriptions filled. Fair enough. Off I went to the store to buy some rhus tox. “The book says it’s made from poison ivy, so it will help your body get over the reaction to poison faster.” I was so excited. He was less so.
He took the remedy and within 10 minutes his itching got intensely worse, but within another 10 or 15 minutes he had relief. By the next morning the rash was substantially faded and the day after, you’d never even know he had it. This was the experience I needed that subsequently launched me into a full-blown homeopathic guru. We never looked back. I went hard after learning all I could, using it successfully and sharing it with everyone. I began carrying arnica in my purse just in case I, or anyone else with me ever got injured while out and about. I remember the first time I offered those little white pellets to a complete stranger. I was in Marshall’s at the checkout counter and the woman behind the counter tried to pick up a heavy console table upside-down, when she did, the heavy top fell toward her crashing into her shins. OUCH! I could feel it myself, that. is. the. worst. She was in pain, poor girl. I thought, “am I crazy for asking if she would take a little white pill form a stranger that isn’t tylenol?” I asked her and she said, “yes, thank you! I have a friend who uses this stuff!” I was hooked, I love helping people, I love learning how to do things differently and pass it on.
I have soooo many stories of using homeopathy successfully for myself and my family and I hope to share more stories here in the future. So stay tuned! I have stories of ear infections disappearing, splinters coming out, bruises vanishing, breast infections coming under control. So much. I hope this was valuable and inspiring. Check out my recommendations and resources page for more of my favorite health tips. blessings! kay lee
