You are probably wondering the events that followed Thursday
morning. As I was outside
manically pacing, the inn owner asked Mom what was going on. She was fearful of the neighbors
complaining about the noise and about the girl frantically pacing. Mom didn’t have a clear answer for her. I freaked out so hard on Mom right
before the shuttle came that I told her she was not allowed to come with
me. I was filled with hostility
and rage. I said we needed space
and she better not dare come with me.
Thursday was a busy day for me. I started with a full body thermography scan. I have had one in that states before
when I was younger but much more was revealed via this scan. Thermography is an instrument that measures body temperature, with the results of the test displayed on a graph. A thermal diagnosis assumes that illnesses of internal organs and disturbances of their functions project as temperature patterns on hte skin's surface and are here diagnostically detectable. Nerve reflexes reach the skin zones which are affected by internal disturbances. Further important diagnostic references can be had, such as the reactivity of the organism as a whole and each individul measured body location: do we find a normal, a depressed, or elevated reaction above a particular organ. With this information, early signs of dysfunction can be revealed to the patient prior to them expressing symptoms of disease. It is a great non-invase way of providing a total body assessment. I was also not allowed to eat or drink
before, take a shower, or even put lotion on. They wanted the scan to be as accurate as possible. I kept thinking I was going to do something
wrong so I kept re-reading the instructions. In the end all went well and that was one of the easiest treatments I have had since coming here. I shouldn't even call it a treatment, more like a diagnostic test.
After the thermography scan I had a mini break to take my
meds and drink some broth. On
Wednesday I was told my Dr. R would be going on vacation so I would be
receiving a new doctor. The
universe must have been looking out for him because I ran into him in the
hallway in tears, literally shaking. I was shaking
from lack of sleep and frustration.
He told me not to worry that he would stay for my doctor appointment
with my new doctor so that both of them would be able to tag-team my case.
For over an hour I had two doctors studying my case and coming up with a plan to move forward. The small gesture of Dr. R staying made me feel like he genuinely care about me and want me to get better. Dr. R was supposed to have already left. Good bedside manners go a long way for patients. The two doctors decided I should have an analysis of the autonomic nervous system, so I wore a heart monitor and didn’t talk while they were running their tests. My results were a suggestion of how my autonomic nervous system works. My body did not demonstrate the required balance between tension and physical reaction. While sitting down relaxed, ideally the body’s relaxation system should be dominant when a person is sitting at rest. My sympathetic nervous system, which is also referred to as the stress system, was more active at rest than the relaxation. At rest, sitting down my heart rate was 93, which is too high for a young woman who is fairly active. The doctor’s came up with a plan together that I felt comfortable with. I was given tons of injections including the organ cell extract from pigs. This time it was for my spleen and my liver. Then I was given injections for my stomach pain. After my appointment with both doctors, Dr. H told me to come back at the end of the day and she would give me something to relax me.
The doctors also came to the conclusion I was too toxic, so
they scheduled me for a detox IV right after our appointment. The detox IV was filled with alkaline
basic solution, Vitamin C, homeopathic goldenrod complex (supports the
kidneys), Acetycystein (detoxification of metals and other toxins, liver
protection), B- vitamins (important protection of the blood and nerve cells of
metabolic products and toxins), Homeopathic remedy (for the thyroid and
generable metabolic activation), Homeopathic zinc-antioxidant (for detoxication
and supports the immune system), Homeopathic complex of mandrake and meadow
safran (activates intracellular enzymes, cellular detox and protection of the
cells), Homeopathic dandelion complex )supports the liver), Homeopathic ovarian
complex (supports the female metabolism), Magnesium (antioxidant,
detoxification of metals, relaxation of muscles, vessels, urinary tract and
gallbladder), Homeopathic myosotis complex (supports the lymph transport and
the connective tissue), and last but not least Homeopathic liver complex
(supports the liver metabolism).
While receiving this IV through my port, I received an oxygen IV through
my arm at the same time for 14 minutes, which is an improvement from my 10
minutes when I first started. The
time flew by, I even Facetimed my sister during my infusions.
After I had to sprint down the stairs to the front desk to
get into a taxi to take me to the gynecologist in town. Yippie! My first outing is to the gynecologist and since Mom didn’t
come with me on Thursday I had absolutely no money to pay the taxi driver. I was panicking. Thank god I ran into two women who were
also staying at my hotel and I swallowed my pride to ask for some money to pay
back. The one woman gave me Swiss
franks and the other woman gave me british pounds just in case of
emergency. I was eternally
grateful.
The gynecologist’s office was extremely sophisticated; she
even did her own IVs. The nurse
pricked my finger for blood, I thought she was testing me for STDs but she was
actually testing my hemoglobin. I
guess I looked that pale that she could tell I was anemic. While filling out paper work I spilled
burning hot soup on my pants, which was quite the episode at the gyno. Then my name was called to go back to
her office. When I saw the chair I
would be sitting on, I was shocked at how sophisticated the gynecologist’s
office was including the chair for the exam was super comfy. The chair moved so she could get the
best angle. Then she performed an
internal ultrasound where I could see my uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. She said I have polycystic ovarian
syndrome, I had a cyst on the left ovary and tons of smaller ones on the right
ovary. Then I asked her why I
don’t get a regular period and she could see from my ultrasound that I hadn’t
gotten a period in awhile. She said
I am not ovulating that I needed progesterone. She said to take it the last 15 days of my cycle. That didn’t seem too difficult. Overall it was a great appointment and
I was glad I went. Since I was in
the town and there was a pharmacy right behind where my taxi parked so I
sprinted in and got a hot water bottle to lie on my stomach when I need a
heating pad. I must admit I did
pick one out with that was a little fancier than the other plain colors.
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| Gynecologist''s exam chair- so fancy |
I was rushing out of the store just so that the taxi
wouldn’t be waiting to long. She
thought it was funny how much I was rushing. She told me her dream is to drive a taxi in New York
City. There are no ubers here,
only in big cities.
When I arrived back at the clinic, I was scheduled for
labwork and an X-ray. I should
have asked more questions such as why they were drawing blood again, but it
just didn’t dawn on me at the time.
Next I was headed to HRV with Dr. F. He was investigating why my heart rate
was so high and why I am not sleeping.
For the first 30 minutes we focused on my breathing and watching it on
the monitor. We were practicing
belly breathing. He wanted me to
wear a heart monitor for 24 hours to monitor my heart rate and to see how I was
sleeping. He told me heart rate
was the window into autonomic into the autonomic nervous system. I learned that the autonomic nervous
system controls the immune system, how individual organs function and how they
coordinate amongst themselves. For
example, everything may be appearing to be okay but then you learn the organs
aren’t communicating amongst themselves.
So I agreed to wear the heart monitor. He also mentioned that I should have a glass of white wine
to help me sleep better tonight.
No doctor has ever prescribed me a glass of wine, now that is my kind of
medicine. The reason why he didn’t
say red wine was because of a possible histamine reaction.
Then I headed to the dentist office where I had a dental
appointment, but wasn’t quite sure what it was for. I get there and find out they think I am getting my wisdom
teeth pulled that day. I started
panicking I had just received the estimate that morning and had no time to talk
it over with my parents. It seemed
very rushed. Thankfully he said he
wouldn’t bill me for not utilizing the time space because there was obviously a
communication error. But the
situation had me worked up!
I was done for the day after the dentist except for I had to
go back to Dr. H. I walked over to
the next building and literally had the breakdowns of all breakdowns. I locked myself in the bathroom and
just sobbed. I crumbled, I am a
germaphobe and I was lying down on a bathroom floor just sobbing in fetal
position. Then I Facetimed my sister for support. Everything she said resonated with me. She did a good job of making me laugh
and encouraging me to get off the bathroom floor and get to the doctor.
After my mental breakdown it was finally time to go see Dr.
H. She gave me an injection to
sedate me. Then she gave me three
more injections in my stomach for pain and nausea. Of course nothing was instant. Lastly she put small acupuncture needles on and in my right
ear. They were magnetic so she
gave me this tool to use to twirl the needles when I was home. She put a small band-aid over it and
that was that; she said it could stay in my ear for up to 3 days. She decided to try this approach
because the points she pricked translated to the stomach meridians. One was for the stomach and the other
was for anxiety. `I really like
Dr. H; she listens and truly tries to understand where you are coming from.
I was dreading going home and having to confront Mom. But it actually wasn’t that bad. She understood that I am under
tremendous stress, so we acted as if nothing had happened. We walked around town a bit to find
wine then decided to eat outside of our bed and breakfast hotel. Ironically 3 other people I had met
decided to do the same so we combined tables and had a great dinner. It was so nice to be outside of our bed
and breakfast. It felt like
civilization. I ordered things
that were a bit too ambitious for my stomach but everything on the menu looked
great. I ordered a salad, a
shrimp/guacamole appetizer, and a small drink that is well known in Italy. I don’t even remember the name because
someone else ordered it for me. I
am learning more and more about the importance of healthy fats, which is why I
ordered the appetizer. I also
ordered it out of desperation since I was literally starving. There was a woman there who mashed up
my food for me so that it would be more easily digestible. She even put lemon juice on top because
that aids in digestion. I was
extremely grateful for her help in teaching me to re-eat again. It was her last night as well as
another gentleman who I had befriended, so in a way it was a little
celebration. We had great
conversation throughout dinner and just a good time. Little did I know how much pain I was going to be in later.
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| The crew at dinner |
When we got home it was bedtime, but I was wide again. Then the pain kicked in. I spent most of the night in the
bathroom on the toilet. If I
wasn’t in the bathroom I was curled up in the fetal position. My heart was racing, all I could think
about was what is this heart monitor going to pick up if I can’t get to
sleep. Finally around 2:45AM I
woke up Mom and called Dad (he actually picked up) because the pain was so horrific. Mom massaged my stomach for a good 30
minutes but she kept telling me to close my eyes. Due to past experiences I am scared to fall asleep, plus I
felt pressure to sleep since I hadn’t slept very much recently. I finally slept from 4:30AM-6AM. I learned my lesson on the foods I can
and cannot eat. I have a very
sensitive stomach and that was overly ambitious. Good life lesson.
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