Wednesday, July 29, 2009

In a recent trip to the emergency room, I discovered several things about our health care system first hand that were upsetting, disturbing and down-right bewildering! One of which I will share here in this story. It is about what to consider when using antibiotics, and how there may be more to think about than what we are told from our health care professionals.

So there I lay....
wearing my "Just Say No to GMO" tank top, waiting for the Doctor to come in and tell me what the plan was to take care of this extreme infection moving it's way up my leg from a cut on my foot. I was far from oblivious to the irony of this situation; Sunday night out celebrating my graduation as a Holistic Health Counselor and Monday night being admitted to the hospital. But this is where medicine is truly essential and amazing, saving lives and taking control of the 'out of control'.

So in came the Doctor...
and I was informed of the inevitable obvious; that I was in need of some antibiotics and that I would be spending the night. Needless to say, there was no excitement from me. Pillow fights and ghost stories would surely not be taking place here and I could definitely not expect a movie or some popcorn. But none the less I was where I needed to be and I knew that.

That leading me to the first of my discoveries.

My first reaction when I heard the news that I would be given extreme doses of antibiotics was utter disappointment. Along the way, I have learned so much about what goes on in our "gut" and why we need the friendly bacteria that reside there:
  • They are a first line of defenders for our immune system.
  • They enhance B complex vitamin production.
  • They can lower cholesterol.
  • They have anti-cancer capabilities.

Unfortunately, antibiotics kill off all of the bacteria, not just the bad, and it is up to us to put the good ones back in.

So with that in mind...
"Hey Doc., what about my friendly flora?" I asked, and the Doc. chuckled as he exited the room, making a barely audible statement about how everyone should take a probiotic supplement. Ha ha ha, I thought. Wait, but no, I was being serious.

At that point I went on to request a probiotic supplement several times, each time hearing "sure we should be able to get you that", but never finding it on my bedside wheeling cart. Why on earth was this so difficult? I wondered.

It then occurred to me that I would only receive one part of the healing process here and this was what disturbed me. How can there be a real follow-up plan for patients exiting the hospital when the remedy is so incomplete? What about all the people who come through here who have no idea about the necessity of healthy intestinal bacteria? Who think that the only reason to eat yogurt or take a probiotic while on antibiotics is to avoid getting the dreaded 'other' infections. And I don't know about you, but before I knew about this, I was often not persistent with these preventative measures if I did not feel the need to be.

I feel that this is just one example of the incomplete treatment that people receive from our health care industry.

Then I was given the food menu....
You always hear the same complaints about hospital food, right? "It's gross, I wouldn't feed this to my dog, did they find this on the moon?" etc. etc. etc. Well, although the complaint department in my mind is in agreement with these statements, how about considering this: This is a place full of people who are sick...where are the options for the foods that heal? Why is it so difficult to put together a menu with whole foods and real foods that taste really great and nurture the body? So making the best of the menu options at hand, I requested some real food. The items I ordered were not on the menu, I had to ask for them and the choices were limited.

This raised the observation for me again that there is a big piece missing here. Although the treatment that I received was absolutely necessary and the hospital did a fine job of getting me "back on my feet", I was only given a part of the "solution". I feel that there is change that needs to take place in this industry that will tie in the scientific and hard thought research of medicine with the holistic and well based principles of living for optimum wellness.


Wouldn't you agree?



Probiotics are found in fermented foods and can also be taken as a supplement.

Examples of some fermented foods:

Yogurt

Sauerkraut

Soy Sauce

Tempeh (fermented soy)

Kefir (fermented milk drink)

Natto (fermented soy)

Kombucha (fermented Tea)