My mum was a very caring “stay at home” mum, who loved running a good household. There wasn’t a moment she didn’t have time for me whilst doing her duties as well. As most children, I suffered my share of childhood illnesses like the measles, chickenpox, the regular cold and occasional flue. When that happened it was very comforting to know that mum would go out of her way to make me feel as comfortable as possible in my condition. She would make me a cup of chicken stock and give me the medication the doctor prescribed. Sometimes she would buy me a little gift to feel better and sit by my bed a bit more then usual. I think she was so good to me because she could relate to feeling bad with chronic health problems herself. I guess you could say that to me as a small child it was a bit of a special time to be ill and it felt good to be spoiled despite the discomfort of the illness.
Now from a different perspective in adulthood, I realise that all that special treatment made me feel good and that I wanted more of that feeling, so as a consequence I “found” myself sick more often! (This is NOT a suggestion to neglect comforting ill children, but to try create balance and to encourage them to focus on the more rewarding benefits of being well). I was later diagnosed with Asthma, Hay Fever and other allergies as well as becoming known at the doctor’s as the kid with the unusual symptoms that could not be diagnosed and left him puzzled. I still remember what he jokingly said every time I came to see him: “Your a strange child and that’s what you are!” Mind you, he did sometimes have some strange ways of expressing his thoughts. One time I went to a Summer holiday camp and came down with a mysterious flecked skin and feeling unwell, conveniently at the moment I decided I had enough of being there…By the time mum picked me up and we arrived at the doctor’s, the skin had returned to looking normal! This memory proved to me that the mind does indeed influence the body.
As I since have learned while trying to understand my health issues, everyone has the ability to “make themselves sick” (mostly accidentally, unintentionally and subconscious) for whatever reason, but on the flip side if we focus on being healthy and feel good about being healthy we really can achieve good health. I discovered that being healthy is not a blessing, it is a choice! (It is not a brain one but a choice with determination you feel deep down from the bottom of your chest.) I made that choice when I finally realised that being sick was interfering with my life too much and holding me back from what I liked doing.
The final drop that caused me to feel very angry at the health care system and solidified my decision to ultimately free myself from all medication, was the response of a skin specialist I saw when I was about 19. After years of using cortisone cream and not seeing any improvement in my skin problem, I was getting desperate for a cure. It was so bad, I had to keep my hair from touching my face not to aggravate it. It would feel like my skin was on fire, also turning bright red in large patches and when that subsided it would itch really bad and the skin would peel off. I had to take the train for an hour to see this expert specialist, that was supposed to be able to do what the local specialists could not. After several appointments I straight out demanded to know what the cause was, as it seemed that not one of the many specialists I had seen for this problem had been able to tell me that. He did not hesitate to tell me that “stress” was the cause. Ok, that was great news, now I knew how to get rid of the skin problem, just get rid of the stress! In my opinion, if stress was the cause I should go and see a psychiatrist to combat stress instead of a skin specialist who gave me cortisone cream that was not having any positive effects on stress or the skin problem whatsoever! His response was: “That would not work, would you like another prescription for the cream?”!!! I felt so let down (and more stressed out), that I did not want to waste any more time than absolutely necessary in a doctors office!
I started “finding” the right information, every time I was ready to learn the next step, in books, health magazines and things people said to me. I discovered that my skin problem was caused by an allergic reaction to nail polish, after reading about that possibility in one of the books I found about curing allergies. It completely went away after I stopped using nail polish in less than a couple of weeks! I was baffled that those “clever” skin specialists never looked at my beautifully manicured hands! Despite my anger at them at the time, I am now extremely glad they didn’t, because that was the turnaround point in my life. This “victory” was the moment where I became ready to start taking responsibility for my own health. This ultimately has led me to start this blog to reach others that might need to hear what I have found out the hard way. Now I am back at a point that I can honestly say that there is definitely a need for doctors and they do good work too, but be selective if you need one and find the doctor that understands your needs and treats you as you deserve, with respect!
It took several years of changing my eating habits, finding the right (mostly mineral) supplements to boost my immune system and going to alternative health practitioners. I slowly changed the way I thought about health and what is possible. I can now confidently say I am completely free of any medication for the first time in my life and feel better now than when I was in my teens and twenties! I made the choice to be healthy and free of medication and things “fell into place” to make it a reality and I have learned to embrace life again! (I still catch an occasional cold like everyone else, but the severity has decreased dramatically and now not even once a year, 6x less than before.)
Now I can hear you think: “But what about the more serious and life threatening Illnesses, what about incurable diseases?” Well, I am glad I never let it get that far, but in my studies to regain my own health I have stumbled on many so called “miracles” that other people have written about, like Kit Campbell, who beat Crohn’s disease ( http://kitcampbell.com/about-kit/ ). That proves to me that the decision to focus on health also works for those cases, depending on the individuals ability to believe (and feel) the “unbelievable” and to read their inner compass.
For those that would like to learn more about the subject and aid their recovery from so called “chronic” and/or “terminal” illness, besides having the guidance of a good qualified doctor and/or specialist, I also recommend to look into works by Bruce Lipton PhD ( https://www.brucelipton.com/about ), Lissa Rankin MD ( http://lissarankin.com/ ), Andrew Weil MD ( http://www.drweil.com/ ), and others like them, who are much more knowledgeable, regarding the way the body and mind really work together, than me. Have an open mind, relearn to feel your own intuition and you will find your own miracles. I am glad I found my health, because it gave me so much more!
“I admit that thoughts influence the body.” —Albert Einstein-
Quoted by W. Hermanns in A Talk with Einstein, October 1943. AEA 55–285. http://einstein.biz/quotes.php
Happy Pollyesther 
Wow, I’m realy happy for you.
And understand why you send me all those links.
You see me struggeling too and want me to free myself from whats holding me back too.
Last full moon I went to a womans cirkel and after I dicided to stop taking the pil. Get rid of those chemicals.
The one thing I’m still struggeling with is my preseverance (volhouden). If I try something I want so see a result imediatly. Sooo (too?) many things to change it feels.
Every body is diverent, but I’d like to have a ready-made answer.
That ofcourse has to do with my emotions, my fear of getting worse.
I can handle this, but don’t want to start feeling worse. Even if its only temporary, because, like you said, the mind can make it worse. I’m too afraid that when I get a momentary setback my mind gives up, therefor my whole body gives up and stays worse then it was before.
I admire your strengt, because, I hope you don’t mnd me saying this, you used te be the folower in my eyes. Now you lead your own life!
TOPPIE 🙂
Maybe you can become my noutrianist, by giving me a plan on how to boost up my energie. Not links, just tell me what to try! I’m not good at finding the needle in the haystack, and I trust you!!
xxxxx love Irma
Thank you Irma, for your lovely feedback and trust. First, I’d like you to know that I admire your strength too! I loved how you used to take the lead when we were growing up, always full of fun ideas and drive and it has saddened me to see you battling your illness that has caused you to lose this spark sometimes. That was the reason I kept sending you links whenever I felt there was something in them that could be useful for your recovery. You deserve to keep shining your unique light. Despite the fact that I have learned a lot about regaining my own health, I am far from qualified to give you advice on your recovery. I understand why you look at others for advice, because I have done the same thing myself. This however puts the power over your life in others hands, whether it be a doctor or well meaning friend, and blinds you to truly see/feel your own inner needs. In my opinion real healing can start when you are ready to take that responsibility back into your own hands, follow your own guidance (gut feelings) and accept and apply what rings true for you from professional helpers, like doctors and nutritionists (make sure to discuss your decisions with them, especially in regards to eliminating medications). That needle in the haystack will stand out and sparkle more in a relaxed, trusting the answers will come, frame of mind. I can’t tell you what to do, I can only tell you what worked for me and hope that some of that might be useful for your recovery. For me it was an almost 30 year journey to get to where I am now, starting in the old days with no internet. Have patience, as it may not happen overnight! A fun thing you could try is go to Lissa Rankin’s blog (click link in my story) and follow her instructions for writing your own prescription. This can be helpful in understanding your condition better and may give you some insights as to what else you could try to aid your recovery. Also her book, called “Mind over Medicine” is a gem and real eye opener (you can find links to order this on her blog). I wish you a smooth healing journey and much love! xxx Pollyesther
I completely understand this. I’m in better health and better shape than most people I know because my body overreacts to things. In a way I’m grateful for food allergies. Warm wishes, SB
I am glad you have found your health and it is always nice to hear from someone who has been through similar experiences, wishing you all the best and more for the future!
Thank you for sharing so much. Your words will bring the right person comfort and support. They’ve done that for me, for sure.
Thank you for letting me know, that is exactly why I am blogging about it, to help others see that there are more ways to benefit our health than we are commonly led to believe and offer a bit more comfort in times of doubt. I am glad it did that for you 🙂
Thank you Pollyesther for putting me onto this post. I have been exposed to info about food additives and chemicals and do my best. I also play the violin, which has many movements like tai chi. This can be very relaxing when the violin is cooperating. I try eating raw food and am good with a fruit smoothie but it’s hard to keep it up long term. Winter will be my challenge. It’s too hot to eat all those comfort foods at the moment. xx Rowena
Your Welcome! Sounds like you are on the right track 🙂 I would further recommend to drink a large glass of water with a squeezed lemon upon waking. I have mine at room temperature for that hour. This does wonders for balancing the PH balance of your body (which is crucial for good health and combatting any type of inflammation in the body http://thegoodwitch.ca/how-to-balance-your-ph-levels/). I too struggle with salads in Winter and seldom have them then, but I know that a good stock based soup with lots of vegetables easily makes up for that. You can make it more into a meal by adding spuds or rice. I also love a risotto (my fav is chicken, spinach and mushroom) or roast.
Playing an instrument is wonderful as it focusses the mind like meditation. You probably find it won’t cooperate if the mind is too busy to focus and become “one” with the violin. Wishing you all the best on your journey to even better health xx Polly
Thanks so much for that, Polly. I have been surprised at how the violin has calmed my mind because I can assure you, and you have already noticed my mind is very active. I was at ensemble last week and I have a lot of long notes and I became incredibly relaxed. I also find I don’t think of other things as much when I’m playing. I am also heavily into photography and I’ve had some rough patches and you can just zoom in on something and the rest of the world completely disappears. This can also be hazardous for photographers because they are so focused through the lens and also in getting the shot, that they get injured or killed. I noted that the first Australian to die I think it was in the Gulf War was a photographer.
If you check my blog out tomorrow, you will see my daughter’s birthday cake. It has every form of cake decorating accessory known to an 9 year old girl sprinkled on top. It looks like a volcano exploding. A creation that Dame Edna would love! xx Rowena
Your welcome again 🙂 Sad about the photographer, but the good thing about it is that photographers develop an eye for detail that others miss. Just don’t forget to see the bigger picture every now and then (when appropriate). I look forward to your post! xx Polly