Last night, illness hit. I felt the first moment of it, and counted out about 30-40 minutes before I took action to counteract this illness with a little medicine. It took about an hour for the symptoms to easy - though I knew I was not healed yet, but I was able to function again. This morning, there are no signs of the illness at all.
Now, the following might be too much information, so be forewarned.
I was chatting on FB and on the phone.. - yes, multi-tasking - ineffectively. I put one on hold while I finished up with the other, and then went to my FB conversation after hanging up the phone. Before going back to FB, I went to the bathroom to empty my bladder, but I had just done that 10 minutes before - not so unusual given I had just had a coffee. I thought nothing of it, other than there wasn't much to empty even though I felt like I was going to burst.
As I talked on FB, was becoming increasingly more antsy - feeling more and more like I had to pee. I interrupted my conversation to go pee again.. And then again in another 10 minutes. 20 minutes into this conversation I realized I had a bladder infection. I was hardly able to sit still, the pain was so great. I went to the basement to find my cranberry tablets after about 30 minutes of pain, and took a dose equivalent to about 24000 mg of cranberry concentrate..about a liter of cranberry juice.
I had to get off FB. I couldn't concentrate on the conversation and I couldn't sit still. I had to empty my bladder every time it got filled with about a tablespoon full of urine. I curled up with Stuart, and then got up, and then curled up.. finally I put some arnica gel on my abdomen about the place where the bladder is, and then a few minutes later took some arnica pellets. Finally I sat with a hot compress on my belly and was able to watch tv with Stuart. An hour and a half after I had had my first inclination that I was sick, I was on the road to healing, on the road to being out of pain. I took another dose of cranberry on my way to bed - about 2 hours after the first sign of sickness, and again in the morning I took another dose of cranberry. It's now mid-day and I have no symptoms at all.
Conventionally, I would have had to go to a hospital, as there's no walk in clinic in the area.. or I'd have driven to the city to an all night clinic (is there one in the city???) I would have gotten a prescription for antibiotics - after they tested me for UTI - and then it would take a good 24 hours before the antibiotics kicked in - and I'd have to take it 6 days. - The cost of this is probably in the range of $200-300 when you think of the drive, the cost of the Dr., who is paid by the government with my taxes, and then the pharmacist would have to dispense the medicine and I'd have to pay for the antibiotic, and then drive back.
Conversely, my personal education has taught me about how to heal myself - cost free, only cost me time and energy. The bottle of cranberry tablets (which I keep on hand as this is something I get about once every year and a half) cost about $10-15. The arnica is something I have on hand for all kinds of health concerns - the two kinds cost about $20 combined.... for a total of less than $40 for my healing in less than 12 hours.
Why is it that we have allowed our culture to rely on the medical establishment for every little ailment. Why have we not retained even basic healing culture. I fully admit that there are things I can not deal with alone and need help with - I could not have survived my appendicitis without the assistance of surgeons to remove it.. but do I really need to seek medical care for something like a UTI or Kidney infection (which is where it usually manifest in my body?) I was once hospitalized for 8 days with a kidney infection after Myles was born... I can't imagine if that was the course of action each time I had a baby.. and suffered a kidney infection. Instead, after Rourke was born, I treated myself preventatively with UVA URSI (Bearberry) and then when the crisis hit, cranberry tablets. Every time I have learned to be quicker about recognizing the symptoms of the illness.. and have learned better techniques to prevent it from happening at all. I didn't get one after Elias at all ( first time after 6 births!) But I also realize that during my whole pregnancy, I had been supporting my kidneys in a much better way - which was also the cause of my hypertension problem - week kidneys.
So I guess this illness - this UTI in the bladder, should be telling me something - that I'm again slipping up and need to support my kidneys better, provide for better health for them.. I need to go back to taking my Cal, Mag and potassium more regularly.
I am Sombra, and these are the stories from our house. We're a Messianic family where academics often take a back seat to the work and adventure of life.
