What the Hell Took Me So Long?

I have been on the natural health bandwagon for, oh, about ten years, so what the hell took me so long to decide to find myself a naturopath instead of going to my MD for things that I know he is either just going to give me a) unnecessary antibiotics, b) steroid cream or c) a fruitless xray/ultrasound for? I have a few health issues -- anemia, eczema, ovarian cysts and TMJ (and thus, migraines.) None of these things have been successfully treated with my MD. Kai has eczema now, too, so I figured it was time to try another route, and since Adam now has benefits that cover it, we were able to drop the cash upfront to see a naturopath and get some tests done.

After being there I can say that even if we did not have coverage, I would find a way to take this route alone for most health issues that could ever come up, and it in conjunction with conventional treatments for anything that would be life-threatening, etc (in situations, for instance, where the naturopath themselves suggest both types of treatment, ie. chemotherapy in conjunction with dietary changes and supplements to support health through the chemo.) 

Anyway, this is where I am going, and Dr. Alison is awesome. I had already cut out gluten for Kai and I, and our eczema had gone from a 4/5 to a 1/5 within two weeks, it was still there, though, which meant there was even more crazy stuff going on inside, so she did a complete food allergy panel. This means you get tested for allergy to almost 100 foods, the most common allergens, and then you can know what to cut out to get rid of all manner of health problems. The naturopath said that whatever I am allergic to, so might he be, so I alone was able to take the test for now, which is great because it was $395.00 (thank God, covered by insurance), but again, worth every penny in my mind. I am sure that if we all bought steroid cream for the rest of our lives it would add up to much more than that, and we would be much less happy and healthy than we will be just cutting out the foods that are sending our immune systems in a tailspin.

So in just two weeks I will have a huge list of foods that tells me how allergic I am to all of them! It's like nerdy Christmas morning! The list is like a bar chart that tells you if you are a little, quite a bit, a lot or mega allergic to something. I am a little nervous that soy is going to be on there, and a lot nervous that nuts will be. We will see. 

On another geeky health front, I have to get braces for two years to fix my crossbite that is making it so the sharp parts of my top teeth are destroying the concave parts of my bottom teeth, leading to broken and cavity ridden lower molars, and broken fillings. These are not covered by insurance, unfortunately, but sometimes you have to take a hit in life in order to be better in the long run. I had braces before that were put on by an ortho who I am pretty sure was crazy and I eventually took them off early because they kept falling apart, hurting me, etc. They fixed some things, but now I have to finish the job. Luckily ten years have done some good things for the ugliness of braces -- they are pretty tiny and not elastic-y now. :) Anyway yes, I am going to have braces on until I am 32. Wicked. 

xo.h