About

The primary focus of this blog is to help raise more awareness about something that I feel is extremely important, which is integrating alternative medicine with conventional medicine, wherever it can help the patient (“integrative medicine”).

I strongly support this because I have learned about the value of alternative treatments the hard way.  I was struggling to find treatments that would work for me, and my medical doctors, for whatever reason, rarely presented alternative treatments as another option to consider.  Eventually, conventional medicine (or Western medicine) could no longer help me.  It was gut-wrenching.  I felt like I had run out of options, and it was a terribly frightening place to be.  I wish I had known earlier about alternative treatments that could work, because alternative medicine is what is now helping me progress.  I am a real example of where alternative methods are making a positive difference along the road to recovering and healing.  It is slow, but it is working and it has given me some hope where hope didn’t exist before.

I think Andrew Weil, M.D. sums it up nicely in his video, What is Integrative Medicine when he says, “I’m in no way an uncritical proponent of alternative medicine, and I in no way reject conventional medicine, I think the goal is to take the best of both worlds.”

I will share some information about my recent medical experiences, the types of alternative treatments I am receiving, and my journey to recover and heal.  I’m on a road to finding out who I am, again.  My writing will include information provided to me by the experts who are treating me.  I’ll also write about and link to other things that interest me.  I don’t know where this blog will ultimately end up.  Just like life – we don’t know where we will end up.  It’s a journey.  We just have to see what happens.

What I hope to accomplish

I hope that sharing some of my experiences will help others in their quest towards healing, recovery and prevention.  I hope my story encourages more doctors to learn about what alternative treatments may be effective for their patients AND present them as options.  If my story encourages more patients to ask their doctors if other less invasive treatment options or complementary options can be used in their own treatment plan, we will have made progress.

Oh, and an important note…

I’m not a health care provider, just a patient.  I am learning and still have a lot more to learn.  I am writing about my experiences and what has or hasn’t worked for me.  The information in my blog is not advice.  Consult with your healthcare professional first.