Susan Mené

Kara Ann wrote:Hello Susan,

Thanks for your post, and for your heartfelt sharing, and for the decades of service to so many gentle souls. I hear your burden of care - and for you and every other doc and nurse in clinical practice, we owe you our thanks for your service. And I am sorry that you have experienced, within this wonderful Permies community, an unwelcome, snarky or harsh lens of conventional medicine.

I have practiced for the past 30+ years as a homeopath with a focus on women's health, licensed in Arizona, offering adjunct support for the challenges of daily suffering. People come to me after they exhausted the conventional medical options and did not find a solution. They arrive desperate, in pain, and struggling, with or without a diagnosis or difficult side effects from medications or procedures. People search until they find respite and healing. Those who have experienced wounding within the conventional medical system can have harsh words, but surely it is not  personal to the individuals who have offered their skills with so much care and often with sacrifice. The medical system is increasingly difficult to navigate for both practitioners and patients...

It takes courage to practice medicine, whether conventional or CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Both contribute to a safety net of healing.  Thank you for your courage, and wishing you ease as you work through the therapy process to heal your grief and burden.

   Everything you said is true. CAM is vital! Western medicine in NOT the end-all be-all ultimate solution for many, many people. Western practitioners who practice "cookbook" medicine without listening to the patient or learning about the whole person is awful.  Thank you for your care and compassion and courage facing not-so-nice people who don't understand how essential CAM is.  I think we all need to listen, assess, observe, and read between the lines.  I wish both sides would work together, and people would review all options for the best quality of life and manage/cure.
   For example, sometimes surgery isn't necessary and sometimes surgery is absolutely essential.   Let's figure out ways to do the next best right thing for the patient together.
   

Ineffective protest

   Permies is my favorite place.  However I am finding a lot of snarky, and even what feels like hostile, attacks on western medicine and its providers.
  I did bedside nursing for 34 years.  My husband is a Physician & Surgeon.  We don't hide successful natural treatments in order to make money; we do focus on the large, double-blind scientific studies.  It's a question of how we each choose to "treat".
     There's no "hidden cure" to cancer.  Cancer is not one disease, it is legion. There's no secret password to "big Pharma" money.  If there was, my husband was absent that day in medical school.  The amount of unethical Physicians I have met in 34 years is less than 10.  There are lazy, untalented, socially and/or generally inept physicians, but very few that would trade money and perks at the risk of a patient.  
  Providers may speak to other physicians about new drugs and get paid, or given a meal.  They may not receive alcoholic drinks with their meal.  They may only speak about the current scientific studies concerning the drug,  They may not recommend or disparage the drug.  They cannot mention off-label uses.  They may not say it's better or worse, except with direct reference to science.  Many, many people make huge money speaking about topics within their expertise, including natural health practitioners, permaculture experts, and half the population of tiktok.  None of these are regulated or monitored for ethics, truth, or perks.  
  Starting therapy this month. I am grieving the loss of my lifetime passion (nursing) and dealing with long-stuffed emotions.  SO, pretty please, with sugar on top, have a little more of an open mind, and a little more kindness.  Please be gentle if you respond to this, as I may have been up to my elbows in your friend or relative's body fluids, and lovingly cleaned them up.
      Some quotes from the TV show "The PITT";  watching it actually made me realize I need some grief therapy.
      "The most important things I’ve ever done in my life have been in this hospital. Nothing will ever matter more than what I’ve done in this hospital, but it is killing me. You know how they say that a part of you dies when you lose someone you love? I’m not convinced that a part of you doesn’t die every time you see a fellow human pass. And I’ve seen so many people die that I feel like it’s leaching something from my soul."
   “We need to laugh. Otherwise, we’d never stop crying.”
     "It's in our DNA. It's what we do.

  In my opinion there's no one-size-fits-all, one meets one person on the autism spectrum, and that's what you have: one person with a single individual's characteristics.  Special diets?  You can try if the individual doesn't have food aversions.  Giving my son fermented foods ( and many other foods)?  Not a chance.
  I would like to ask a favor.  Ease up on the subtle (and not-so-subtle) mean stuff about western medicine. I was a nurse for 34 years and my husband is a physician/surgeon.

Thanks to all!  So far, this whole process has been fascinating and totally worth it.
Steve Mendez. I hear you!  Purdue Pharmaceuticals, they were expert, evil liars.
I have a history of alcohol addiction from youth, and it was insidious, never saw it coming, but was happy to leave it behind.  There's some great non-opioid pain meds out there now (journavx).  And as for the physical therapy,  I have to borrow from John Mellencamp:  It hurts so good!
Robert Ray.  I'm doing what you said: I back off and stay gentle the day after PT if I am too sore.  I actually encouraged by the soreness because it feels like progress; only one of the "after" days was misery.  No problem with the bike.  Before PT started (exercise at home the first 2 weeks), I thought I was getting the knee perfectly flat (NOPE!), but with PT, the manipulation to get the knee flat is...interesting! Very painful!  I have a weird reaction to that pain and get the giggles.  
Jay Angler.  Just thank you!  Oh, you gave me some spoons today, and I could almost feel the hugs. Oh and, yes,
alternating easy  exercises with hard is a big help.

Robert Ray wrote:4 weeks in and am off the cane. Just need to build up the strength in my quad. Being able to sleep in a fetal position or on my side without it screaming at me is so nice. PT in an hour we'll see how he treats me. Tylenol on board just in case.

   Sleep is a huge pain in the butt. Inner portion of knee is very tender, so I sleep best on a sofa, lying down with my leg throw up on the back portion.  I wake frequently.  Again, it could be a lot worse.
     Feeling sad for no reason at times, that is the hardest thing I've ever written in a public forum. However, I promised myself I would be 100% honest here because it can help other people going forward.  People right here in this forum told me it might happen.  I have to admit that the sleep disruption definitely plays a part.  
     When I'm really sore after PT, should I still do the exercises the next day?