Staying Grounded

Sometimes I need to step back and regroup or revisit why I do what I do in life, as I have a tendency to get a little over passionate about things. (sounds so much nicer than OCD ;-)

Several years ago my husband was fighting his third bout of the year with an ugly upper respiratory infection. As an ex-smoker and carpenter that constantly is subjected to numerous toxic dusts, fumes, etc., it was not uncommon for him to have these yearly bouts. However they had become more frequent and more severe. As I sat in the doctor's office with him awaiting the results of the numerous tests, we joked around about see what happens when you stop smoking? The doctor came in and told us the tests concluded that he had late stages of Emphysema and severe bronchitis or COPD, if you like. He was breathing at like 25 percent of capacity at that time. He prescribed a barrage of medications and more inhalers. We went home numb. He took his med's as prescribed for many months and continued to struggle at work, especially if it was cold or wet outside.

As time went on he got considerably worse. The steroids in the med's caused him to gain weight and his blood pressure was through the roof. He could barely make it up the stairs to bed at night and it took ten minutes when he finally did, to be able to have enough breath to disrobe. More trips to the doctor, more med's, talk of putting him on oxygen to help him possibly keep working and comfortable, handicap tags, etc. We visited the option of going on disability (as he was definitely eligible) as he struggled to work. We were told by an attorney we would have to go at least nine months without any income through this process, before our wonderful system would allow him the benefits he had paid into most of his life. The thought of losing his house did not appeal to him at that time, so he kept on pushing himself. At one point we began visiting the costs of funeral arrangements.

Over the years (in my venture with our dogs) we had dabbled in alternative or holistic type medicine on several occasions with good results. While discussing our situation one morning I asked him if he would be open to possibly trying some alternative method's in his quest of trying to breath and stay alive. His reply was what do I have to lose??? Good point!

I spent the next month on the internet searching every possible avenue. I posted questions to everyone from here to the UK on diet, supplements, homeopathic remedies, herbal, Reiki, detox....you name it. Came up with a regime that I thought made sense and we got busy. Within two months he dumped 45 pounds, within three months he lost one of his inhalers, within four months his blood pressure returned to normal, within six months he lost the second inhaler, within a year he could go up the stairs and actually undress by the time he got to the bed! We had HOPE again!

Of course upon his next visit to refill the one and ONLY prescription that he was on, the doctor had a full fledged tantrum when he heard what we were doing. I swear he then rigged his spirometry testing machine to show worse results to prove his point! But the PROOF was in the pudding to us and we forged ahead.

PART of the success of the venture I attribute to the DRASTIC change in our diets. That included (as much as it hurt) eliminating all processed food. (ahh chips & Burger King!) All refined sugar. All white flour. Going organic on everything we could find. More fruit, more vegtables. Different oils. Less cooking, more raw. If God didn't make it, we don't eat it theory ;-)

Well that's all fine and good if you want to spend your life 24/7 on a big scavenger hunt for that type of diet or you really WANT to take out a second mortgage to pay for it! So we shifted gears to make our goal to be more self sustained on our 3 acres. We already had a good start on our garden and had canning down pretty good. In the last couple years we have increased the garden three fold and the menu continues to expand as we try to grow new things. We had our laying hens putting out just enough eggs for us and we ventured into meat chickens and have that down pretty good now. The freezer will be full again shortly to get us through the winter.

We struggled with a good milk supplier in town, as we both could not seem to give up THAT addiction. We love our milk with supper and in our coffee ;-) If and when we could find a supplier we could live with, it cost an arm, an ear, and a couple legs. So that became our next venture! Upon research, we decided that the Nigerian Dwarf goat was just the ticket for our needs. As we wait anxiously for that to come into fruitation, I need to keep reminding myself WHY I worry and wear myself to the bone daily, while fretting over my children thinking me a nutcase, with taking on all this work so late in our lives.

Okay...I am grounded again ;-)