Take Root and Write

Intro: Women's Health

The Lord gave us one body and this body is one that we must be in tune with in order to maintain healthy through body, mind and spirit.  This column will include different women's health topics as well as ways to maintain our health the most natural way possible.

By, Dr. Daisy Sutherland aka Dr. Mommy

Column Posted Every 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month.

Cleanse Part One: Perfect Cleanse

Cleansing. We are taking a good in depth look at the word Cleanse this month at Take Root and Write. We are going to start off with, 'The Perfect Cleanse'. Focusing on cleansing the body. 

"Perfect Cleanse", is a trio of products by Garden of Life. The founder of Garden of Life is Jordan Rubin. When I came across his first book, Patient, Heal Thyself, back in 2002, it truly changed my life. I have been on a Wellness journey now for over 10 years. When traditional doctors had no solutions but to treat symptoms with prescription drugs, I turned to natural treatments, prevention. 

I consider myself pretty eclectic in my choices of 'natural' approaches/ treatments. 

I use Homeopathic medicine, Essential oils, Bio-Feedback, Bioidentical, Holistic, along with the best Whole Supplements I have found through research. My hubby and I are GeneWize Affiliates. 

Genewize supplements are compounded specifically for you based on a quick 5 minute DNA swab test. It's really very fascinating and for another post! You can email me for more info until then! 

Jordan Rubin's supplements are the only others I use. I have read every book he has written and have used his products since he started back in 2002. One of our writer's here at Take Root and Write, Duong Sheahan has put together a post on her blog to encourage the 10 Day Perfect Cleanse. I will be joining her in the cleanse along with my daughter and hopefully, my hubby too! 

Invisible Illness Awareness Week~ Seriously, Can You REALLY not see it?

 

I have to say I am amazed. Are we so oblivious to those around us? Maybe it's the lady in the grocery store, the one child on the bench who's name is not yet called to be on a team in PE. It can be much closer, its your neighbor, your friend, your sister, or even your mom. Yes we can, and yes we are so oblivious. It's all around us. Maybe it's you.

We are talking about Invisible Illness Awareness this week. Some reading these posts really have never even thought or heard of such a thing. Don't feel bad or guilty. That's why awareness is needed. That is why after you read some of these posts you will no longer let your self be oblivious to what you now know.

    Oblivious :

1     : lacking remembrance, memory, or mindful attention        
2     : lacking active conscious knowledge or awareness  

Some clarification on invisible illness. The title of my post today is~
Seriously, Can You REALLY not see it?
Yes these illnesses, diseases, conditions, you might not 'recognize' them on site by name. But I have a hard time with people not having a clue that 'something' is up.  Oblivious means- lack of mindful attention. I think we as a society have become so oblivious to those around us and seriously pay 'mindful attention" to very little out of our circle or just plain out of our own needs.

Let's take a look at an incomplete list of Invisible Illnesses... These are in Alphabetical Order
Allergies and Food In-tolerances, Arthritis, Cancer, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain, Depression /Mental Illness, Diabetes and Blood Sugar, Digestive Disorders; Example IBS, colitis, Celiac etc., Eating Disorders, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome EDS & HyperMobility Syndrome GHS, Headaches, Migraines, etc., Heart Conditions inc Dysautonomia, Infertility, Lupus, Lyme Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Neurological Diseases, Pain Management, Rare and Orphan Illnesses, Secondary Medical Issues, Sjogren's Syndrome, Thyroid Disorders.

Some of these will sound familiar to you, others will not. All have lists of symptoms that would boggle your mind. A lot of these also run together, meaning once you have one, you can become more susceptible to acquiring another.

Invisible Illness Week: Sticking Out Your Neck

 You wake up in the morning and you wonder why you feel like you didn't get any sleep. But you slept more than eight hours. You've been working out for months, sweating away the pounds, or so you thought. Yet, every time you step on the scale you aren't losing weight, but oh horrors, you're gaining more. Halfway through the day you're so tired you can't function. Every project you had planned for the day feels like its more than you can handle. Maybe a quick nap will help revive you. Three hours later you wake up and realize the entire day is a bust. "What is wrong with me?"

These symptoms could describe any of many illness, but the one I'm describing starts off deceptively. Hiding its true nature from you and your doctor. Thyroid disease is the most under-diagnosed problem today in American women. About 85% of the female population has a dysfunctional thyroid and they don't even know it. I'm a small percent of that number.

Invisible Illness Week: The Real Disability

It was supposed to be a quick stop at a grocery store to pick up a couple things.  In the cart was our near three year old daughter and our eight year old son walked next to me.    She was kicking her feet and laughing, the anointing of joy in full display. 

That anointing has made for interesting encounters with strangers.  They would see her face, stop, look at her, and come to us and just start pouring their life story out to me.  That day, a senior citizen lady grabbed me by my elbow and asked how old our daughter was.  I had a funny feeling this encounter wasn't going to be about her anointing.

For the next three minutes, this lady looked up one side of our little girl and down another, judging me with every bone in her finger she was wagging at me.  She introduced herself as a nurse and let me know if I didn't stop overfeeding my child, she'd have diabetes before she was ten.

What this woman did not know and refused to listen to was long before I parked in that lot, we had a team of doctors working with us since our baby was six weeks old.  While most parents were snapping pictures and arranging playdates, our first year with her was either at the doctor office, the ER, or in the hospital.