Which medicines to take—and whether to take them—is definitely a pressure I’ve felt as a person with two chronic illnesses: psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Sometimes those pressuring me to take fewer pills and injections may have good intentions: take more vitamins, eat fewer nightshade vegetables, exercise more or differently, take XYZ miracle cure.
While I appreciate the (I hope) kindly sentiment behind those and other suggestions, I find the implications behind people’s repeated suggestions that I manage my diseases differently a little offensive, as if I don’t know what I’m doing. I have done the research into my treatment. I have looked into alternative and natural solutions, and I incorporate a mix of modern medicine and natural options. As I’ve mentioned before, I became a vegetarian in an attempt to help my symptoms; despite what some people think, I don’t eat pork, beef, poultry or seafood, and I’m working to cut out as much dairy and egg as possible, except if I know the source (i.e. I pick it up at my local farmer’s market and I can ask the farmer who produced it how he made it).
But my decision to do this was based on my own research, my own experiences. It was a decision that I made and was supported by my doctor and nurse practitioner. As it turned out, it was the right decision for me and has helped alleviate some of my symptoms; it certainly is not a cure and I would be insane to get off the drugs I’m on.
I think the ideas espoused by Dr. Lee are dangerous.
To wit:
JRA is usually temporary, and only in rare cases does it last a lifetime. Most commonly, it disappears as the child matures. This is due to the strengthening of the child’s immune system and energy over time.
…
Oriental philosophy traces these negative responses to the child’s conception and gestation. It is believed that pregnancy should be a planned process with both parents being in ideal health condition prior to conception. The proper weather on the day of conception also plays a part, as well as the energy of the parents, which also includes genetic influences.
Stress, anger, medications, vaccinations, emotional problems, drinking and drugs all affect the child throughout conception and gestation. These factors cause the parent’s energy to be imbalanced and it is passed along to the baby, which presents itself as a weakness of some sort after the baby is born.
This is one of two philosophies behind all infantile or early-childhood diseases. The other stems from environmental problems, such as radiation from electricity, poisons or pollution in the environment and household, toxins in food, and poor nutrition.
The best treatment for these children is daily massage of the affected areas, better nutrition, reduced stress, light acupuncture and moxibustion treatments, herbs, and added love and affection.
Telling people JRA is “usually temporary” is setting them up to blame themselves when their child—shockingly—does not get well with massage, good eats and love. Auto-immune arthritis is not the result of my parents’ bad energy or stress; it’s not their fault because they would not have wished it on me had it been in their power to prevent it.
This article is taking the nosy, think-they-know-better-than attitude that I’ve experienced from family and friends and people I barely know to the extreme. If massage, affection and herbs were enough to make me feel normal, I wouldn’t be taking multiple potential toxic drugs.
What would I like to say to all the people out there who think they know better than I do or my doctors do? What I would like to say is neither politick nor productive. So, what I’ll say is this: You are entitled to your opinion as to what you think is the cause of my disease and what you think the best treatment would be. But until you’ve lived it the way I have, until you have felt the pain and exhaustion and fear, until you’ve felt the relief brought by these dangerous drugs and experience the indecision as to whether you should go on them or stay on them, your, perhaps well-meaning, advice is not worth much. Modern medicine—yes, the methotrexate, the ENBREL, the Plaquenil, the etodolac—is the only thing that allows me to get up every morning, to get dressed, to go to work, to be a good wife, to walk my dog, to do everything I do. Without them, without the right combination of them, I am in intense pain, I’m stiff, I can’t focus or remember the sentence I started just a few words ago. Without the meds, I would not be able to hold down a job, to be a productive member of society.
Yes, I do other non-medicinal things to increase my overall health: I’m a vegetarian, I do yoga. I am open to adding other things to my regimen, to my arsenal. And doing most or all nutrition or acupuncture or herbs works for you, that is wonderful. But it doesn’t work enough for me to cut out the drugs that allow me to function.
So, I guess that’s the biggest thing I would want the people who expound on their chosen “cure” to know is this: What works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else. And what works for one person won’t necessarily keep working for her. Those of us with chronic illness have to be willing to try almost everything; but recommending the equivalent of a Band-Aid or sugar water for our very real problems doesn’t help. If you really want to help, stop talking and start listening.
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Today has been a pretty average day: I fought with my alarm for 20-plus minutes before finally giving into the inevitable got ready for work, spent a lot of time in front of the computer and on the phone and am at this very moment sitting around, waiting for a public hearing to start. The life of an editor is glamourous—except when it isn’t (which is most of the time).
