natural girls
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Deni-LOL, I should have taken it from him and blew on it.
Welcome C3353
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Yaz - great. Let us know if you see him. I'm really curious about him too. If I were to switch oncs, I would switch to him. I don't think he takes insurance, so you have to pay upfront and submit. I don't think he is cheap either!
Welcome C3353! You will love it here!
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PS73 - I had my INR checked and it came back at 1.3. What's confusing is that with an INR of 1.3 you would think that my blood is too thick but my PT test came back at 16 which shows my blood is taking longer to clot and also, my Factor V test is really low at .33 The normal range for that test is btwn .70 - 1.60
So I'm just confused about what all this means. One test shows I'm clotting and the other that my blood is too thin.
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Hi ladies,
I just made an appointment to see a local acupuncture doctor. I don't know if accupuncture can correct an underactive thyroid, but this will the be first doctor I've been to since june of last year. I've been faithfully taking supplements for a whole year now, juicing nearly two years, cleaning up my diet for four years. I certainly feel way better than I did after finishing rads, but I want to feel GREAT consistently. I feel like a slug most days, and my good days are too few and too far between.
What I'd really like to do is visit a chopra healing center and get a week of panchakarma. I read about it in Dr Horner's Warrior Goddess book. The other thing I'd like to do is get some labs done. I loaded up all the tests I want done at lef.org, and it all adds up to $667. Just can't swing it. I can swing a visit to the accupuncture doctor. Does anyone have experience with accupuncture?
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Sea Otter
I had a full body PET scan and also a chest xray today. Just looking for anything that may be hiding at this point.
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Thinking of you Merilee....
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Althea-I have never tried acupuncture but I did talk to my chiro about it. He is trained in China as an MD, but practices as a chiro so he can do all the alternative threatments. He said to make sure that the acupuncturaist is trained in the Chinese way, which he says means they go deeper or something. Like I said I never did it but I am hoping he will come and speak at the prevention convention on Chinese medicine, including acupuncture.
As for the block center. I looked into them after treatments. I had never heard of them before, since I was still following all the doctors with the standard protocol. But I would check them out if I had to since they are not too far away. I decided to not bother going to my onc anymore. I felt it was a waste of time, since she was only monitoring me anyway, so I keep looking and finding doctors who think outside the box.
Today I went to a holistic dentist. She is one of those dentists who puts on the hasmat suit and takes out all the amalgam in our mouths because all the metals are creating havoc with our bodies. I am not saying I am going this route, it will be very very expensive, but it will be a lot cheaper than getting cancer again, so I might try. She told me about two of her patients who had their fillings removed and their breast cancers started to die. They had active cancer. I know this woman is not in it for the money. She went back and took all the old fillings out of every one of her patients where she had used a product that she was told was safe, but was not. She is going to speak at our convention too.
When people say they were healthy, and they still got cancer all I can say is that they do not know how much they do not know. I too always considered myself healthy, and I was rarely sick, but now I am seeing so many signs that I missed because I had no idea what to look for. This dentist pointed out that the absyssed tooth that I had a root canal done on in the '70's is a sign of iodine deficiency. I can see how I passed on my deficiences to my babies and even though I nursed them, I was too deficient to help them. Women often get cavities when they are pregnant. I never had trouble with my teeth, other than that one root canal, until I had kids. I keep connecting all these dots and it is mind blowing. I just wish I knew then what to do now. There has to be a way to get the word out there. There has to be a movement to get people to demand better preventative care. As you all know, it costs a fortune to eat organic, take supplements, get the tests done, etc. It infuriates me that my insurace will pay hundreds of dollars a month for me to have arimidex, and hundreds more for me to see an onc, but they will not pay for vit D or for me to see a holistic doctor.
I am beginning to understand the reason I got cancer. I think I got cancer because I am the type of person who will fight to survive, and become passionate about the whole business of cancer that I will be driven to change the status quo. I sure hope that you guys will get on the bandwagon and join me. This dentist said something to me today that really hit home. She told me that this change in thinking is not possible coming from doctors. She said the powers that be will go after any doctor who steps out of the box. She said she has to fight it all the time but she always wins because she herself got her health back after detoxifying her body, so they cannot argue with her. She told me that the only way changes will be made will be if patients revolt and speak out. You all know that it will not be easy. We have to fight just for the right to have this topic in this forum. But I am willing to do it. As I said, I cannot do it alone and I sure hope my sisters will be by my side.
Prayers for you Merilee
and welcome Kim.
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Deni and Vivre:
Thanks a lot for your input on Dr. Gaynor and the Block Center. Of course, I will need encouragement to keep moving forward (and actually see one of them). Hopefully, I won't chicken out this time around......
......But who knows? For sure, all these good vibes are going everywhere with me when I am away from this forum, so.....0 -
Oh wow Terri, that does seem really complicated. I thought you were asking about the INR soley. I wonder why my dr didn't give me those tests. What supplements are you on? Did you do chemo? Do you have a port?
Viv, so amalgam is bad too? SHITE - I have a lot of amalgum.
Althea, I went to an accupuncturist for pain management and it was one of the only things that worked for me so I highly rec it. It can get $$ too though.
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Amalgam is bad! I have quite a few too. My ND said to wait to have them removed until I have my BC situation under control.
I saw this news story tonight on the news. It basically said that with prevention and screening, the rates of cancer and death from cancer has decreased.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/12/cancer-news-prevention-and-early-detection.html
Maybe put that together with the article someone posted earlier about how most women turn down Tamoxifen and there we have our real story!
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If anyone is interested, I order raw chocolates off of this site. I have gotten the coconut cookies before and they are awesome. They have actually gone down in price! I just ordered a bunch of "goodies" to give out for the holidays. They are made with raw cacao and agave as a sweetner. No sugar. Nice as a treat!
Good stuff.
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Does anyone have experience with accupuncture?
I did acupuncture for fertility for three weeks before we conceived the last time. I feel 100% certain that it made a difference in correcting some inbalances, got my blood circulating better, and other great benefits.
Here's what I like about the acupuncture/Traditional Chinese Medicine approach. While Western medicine throws drugs at a "problem" to fix it, TCM contends that those "problems" (be it infertility, cancer, depression, whatever) are symptoms of inbalances in the body.
Some of this has to do with various organs and systems; e.g. if your liver is compromised, it will impact your health in various ways.
But rather than treating the symptom, as conventional Western medicine does, blasting it with drugs, TCM aims to correct the inbalances themselves... get blood flowing to your vital organs... detoxifying and strengthening organs and systems... etc.
IMO, it fits in perfectly with a "total body" approach to healing/preventing cancer (not to mention other diseases!). Once my husband and I are ready to try to conceive again, I will definitely be going back to my acupuncturist. Actually I should probably go back to her starting ASAP, because a big part of what "worked" with acupuncture for me was bringing my estrogen/progesterone into balance. For an ER+/PR+ chick like myself, that's pretty important!
Deni, mmmm, sounds delicious!! I was craving chocolate the other night so I made my own raw version... raw cacao, extra-virgin coconut oil, and agave... mixed it up and just ate it out of the bowl I mixed it in! It's a "guilty pleasure" that's not so guilty!!
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Vivre-
What does your dentist think of routine dental xrays? It seems like they used to do them to me once a year or so just to check for cavities. I told my dentist at my last check up that I didn't want them anymore and he told me that the ADA has told them to limit xrays. I think the medical field is finding that radiation is not a good thing.
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Bay-I did ask her about the xrays, and she agreed they are a necessary evil. She said there is just no way for them to see without them. But she also told me there is a supplement that is supposed to chelate the effects of rads and darn, I forgot to write it down. I will find out and let you know.
Crunchy, I love your chocaholic recipe. Where do you get the cocao? I cannot find anything without soy lecithin in it. I did find organic cocoa powder at Trader Joe's. Ever use that?
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Vivre, I've ordered it from a site called www.rawveganbooks.com (they sell raw food staples too)... I have been disappointed in things I've bought from my local Trader Joe's recently (mine is a scaled-down store and they seem to cater to yuppies who are more interested in convenience than actual healthful foods).
Vitacost.com also carries it (I'm sure for a better price), but I haven't checked to see if it has soy lecithin in it.
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Oh girls... I just read a post elsewhere that makes me SO sad for this woman and SO angry at the medical industry. It's a woman who had very small DCIS originally.
The medical industry threw the book at her (if I may use a legal slang term medically here)... not just lumpectomy but 4 rounds of AC, radiation, tamoxifen, and zoladex injections to suppress ovaries. And now, 7 years later, she has mets to the liver. I wanted to cry and throw up when I read that. (Why chemo for DCIS, btw?? I would ask her, but I don't want to make her feel bad... I didn't think there was a type of chemo that works on DCIS??) I can understand all that for stage I or II or III or IV. But for DCIS??
I would love to reach out to this woman and gently ask if she's considered any alternative/lifestyle approaches. (Somehow I suspect not, or her body would have withstood the onslaught of that overtreatment better than this. Please forgive me if anyone feels she was not overtreated... and feel free to set me straight... but all of that just for DCIS seems outrageous to me.) But I don't want to upset her... it's hard to know who is and who isn't so enraptured with conventional medicine that they will be hurt, angry or offended if you mention alternatives. Should I say something (tactfully) or keep my mouth shut??
Girls, it grieves me to think of all the women out there who may be overtreated for a very early stage or pre-cancerous condition, or treated conventionally but without alternative therapies to counteract the detrimental effects of the treatment.
My worst nightmare is to think of a woman out there who was blasted with all of modern medicine's finest, for a condition that really didn't call for all that. Then, declared cancer-free by modern medicine, she goes right back to her Standard American Diet (processed food, caffeine, sugar, etc.) and a lifestyle with too little sleep, too little exercise, and too much stress (and no effort to naturally heal the effects of chemo/rads/meds).
Then, bam, 7 or 10 or 14 years later, a far more advanced form of cancer... and she's STILL not told by her doctor, "Maybe you should look into an anti-cancer diet and lifestyle"... how many women innocently trust their doctor as they lead her down this road? How many would never have had a recurrence or mets if they had been told the truth about the best (NATURAL) ways to fight cancer??
I feel for the Elizabeth Edwards and Stefanie Spielmans of the world... women who trusted the medical industry to cure them but were horribly let down... I grieve for women like my friend (who is "cancer-free" now but blows off all my gentle suggestions to eat more organic produce, to try to cut out sugar, etc.) and this woman whose post I read earlier tonight. I feel so powerless to help them when they continue with their childlike trust in the Cancer Industry and don't feel a need to do their own research.
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Julia-
I feel the same way that you do. It is like you have been enlightened and want to spread the word. But, remember how so many women treated you so badly before you found this forum? If you tell them things that they don't want to hear, they get downright mean. I suggest that if you want to say anything to her, send her a pm. Then she can use the info that you gave her if she wants and you don't get beat up.
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Well, Julia, now you know why I am so driven to do something. I think God gave me a curable stage 1 tumor, so I could live to rebel about it. When I met with my holistic dentist today, she told me that she went to a cancer seminar, and they admitted that their treatments are killing their patients. But they do it anyway because they refuse to look elsewhere. It is so pathetic. Think about it. Yes, chemo will kill cancer cells, but it also affects healthy cells. Cells that are compromised become cancerous. So even if they kill the cells that are cancerous, they leave formerly healthy cells vulnerable. Unless the patient does everything to rebuild their cells and boost their immune system, they are very likely to get cancer again. So this has to be our mission. We have to join forces and start a movement to stop the insanity of overkill. There is a lot of work to do. But we are a small army here, and we can all fan out and spread the word. I have a great team of doctors willing to speak out about prevention. I hope all of you can come, see how it works and then go back to your area and organize one in your area with your local doctors. If they do not have to travel, they will be happy to speak for free. By advertising it as a girls getaway weekend, and making it fun, people will come and word will spread. I hope will be the anti Komen movement. I hope we will not be about making tons of money, but about making a difference. I just have this deep sense that it will happen.
Who would like to help me do song lyrics for our comedy night? I am thinking of a revue of broadway parodies called "Effin Cancer, the Musical"
Here are some songs I have in mind:
"No tits, No ass" from a chorus line (sung by a bc and colon cancer survivors)
"The I hate pink Ladies" from Grease
"I feel Shitty" from West Side Story
"I'd Like to wash that Cancer out of my hair, but they chemod it away" from South Pacific. . .
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Julia,
You're an angel sent from above to help others.
Trouble is not everyone believe in angels. But those who do, are blessed.
Btw have you heard of Bill Henderson? He sounds really genuine but how reliable is he ? Do you have any comments?
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I'm so thankful for YOU wonderful women!! It's a breath of fresh air to be around others who "get it."
baywatcher, good advice to PM rather than post. And yes, sometimes when I get a nice reply from someone who was horrible to me when I first came here, I have to bite my tongue... I just think, "Glad you're so sweet and nice, as long as I don't dare question the wisdom of the Almighty Cancer Industry!!!"
Vivre, I am dying laughing at your musical revue... I love it... once I get through the hump of busy season in my business (should be just a few more days), I'd love to brainstorm some more lyric ideas!!
grey, that is a sweet thing to say... you and everyone on this little thread are all angels... every day something that you all say inspires me, makes me laugh, motivates me to want to help others!!
I thought Bill Henderson's name sounded familiar... sure enough, his book is one of many "fighting cancer naturally" books I bought when I was first diagnosed. His approach is right on; in fact it almost reads like a summary of the altie board here. I don't think it's really necessary to buy his book specifically, because of that, although I'm glad I have it and several others because occasionally they do mention something that I hadn't heard of, or they phrase something I already knew in a way that gives me new insight about it.
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julia, I can sort of relate. My mom's neighbor is battling a recurrence of ovarian cancer. She had an excellent prognosis. It was miraculously found early while it was stage 1. She did 2 surgeries and chemo and was given a 90% survival rate. Just one year from her 2nd surgery, she learned that it had spread. Now she's going through more chemo.
Her news hit me hard. It's literally close to home. And when I heard she's going for more chemo, well, it struck me the same as if she were to jump off a tall building. It was an epiphany moment -- I paused to consider, what would I do? In the next breath, I decided I would go to mexico, or to hippocrates, or ANYWHERE but where I live for help. I would sell my house and MOVE. And I know full well that many would think that I'm the one who would be jumping off a tall building for all the good alternative treatments would do. From where I sit, though, I can hardly believe someone would go back for more chemo when it didn't seem to do much good the first time! It's hard to be at peace with other people's choices! But I'm supportive and just last weekend I gave her some chia pudding (raw vegan food full of omega 3's and protein!) and she likes it!
I see it this way -- the best way for me to touch the lives of others in a meaningful way is to live and breathe the lifestyle we talk about here everyday. I'm doing what I think will make a difference. I know full well there's no guarantees. My grandmother got bc in her 50's. Surgery was the only treatment she had. She continued making the best fried chicken and fried pies you've ever tasted. White bread, mashed potatoes with gravy, bacon and eggs for breakfast, candy, cakes and pies for dessert, overweight and sedentary, critical of every single thing that captured her attention. She lived to be 85 years old. A lot of the natural healing authors say you'll just grow another tumor if your lifestyle doesn't change. Well, maybe that's true, but how big a deal is it when you die of old age first 30 years later?
My mom had her bc in 1980 and she just turned 82. She eats a low fat diet to keep her cholesterol down, but her doctor gives her lipitor anyway. She never had high blood pressure until she took vioxx, and even though that's been off the market for YEARS, her doctor won't even experiment with her bp meds to see if maybe she doesn't need it anymore. Mom eats a bit more sensibly than grandmother, but she was a single mom when tv dinners came out and she's been eating convenience foods for a looong time. Surgery was also the only treatment she had for her bc.
Mom isn't as critical as her mother before her, but she's heavily steeped in negative thinking, so how can it be that her cancer never came back? How can it be that our beloved FlaLady who followed the hallelujah acres diet is no longer with us and the founder of that same diet overcame his own cancer more than 30 years ago?
I think what all of us have in common is choosing what we think is our best option. And I think the way we'll put chinks in the armour of the food, drug and medicine giants is to speak our truth and live in radiant health. To go in other sections of bc.org and second guess the choices of others, well, that's a delicate line to walk. I liken it to preaching the gospel on the atheist thread! The information isnt' welcome and the approach isn't likely to improve anyone's life anyway, so better to just set up your own picnic and welcome anyone who wants to join.
vivre, I love your musical lineup! Don't forget those damn hot flashes! Good lord, I thought I was causing global warming singlehandedly back in those days!
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Here is a nice article about the antioxident values in different foods and spices
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Viv - you can get raw cacao powder at Whole Foods.
Crunchy - your chocolate treat sounds YUMMY! Dip some strawberries in there - heaven! I used to not like dark chocolate. Now that I am "deprogrammed" from sugar addiction, and used to no more dairy - I have come to enjoy it.
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Hi all,
I have to put in my two cents after I ready Julia's (Crunchy's) post regarding today's conventional cancer treatment. I am really frustrated, also. The inability, or lack of will, of the medical establishment to learn about and inform their patients about natural treatments such as supplements, diet, etc... is almost criminal. Instead, patients are treated for their cancer, and then pushed out the door. God help you if you aren't internet saavy, or do not have the time or energy to do your own research to determine ways to help heal your body from the treatments that you just went through and to prevent recurrance. God help you if you don't find a group of women such as yourselves who have amassed huge amounts of information through your own research on the subject of wellness after breast cancer.
My other "beef", if you will, is that the medical establishment seems only too happy to treat your disease--but what about PREVENTION! There has been a lot said on this forum about this very topic lately. It makes my blood boil to think that there are women going to their OBGYNs in their 20s and 30s who present with hormone imbalances, high BMI's, poor diets, iodine deficiency, etc..., and the docs generally DON'T KNOW ENOUGH about how to help these women. I would hate to think that the docs know about natural remedies that are effective, yet refuse to pass this info on to their patients. Seems to me that there are many things women can do that have sound research behind them, and that can get the body strong/balanced and perhaps avert many diseases that catch up to us in our late 30s, 40s and 50 as a result.
If women like ourselves are able to do the research and apply these principles, why can't doctors (especially OBGYNs who see women every day) do the same. There's a gaping hole PREVENTION) in current medical protocols where breast cancer is concerned, IMHO.
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Thanks for the tips Deni. I will have to check out whole foods again soon. I love the store but it sure takes a bit out of my wallet.
Merilee-My new dentist said that she confers with Dr. Mercola all the time and he is going to do a piece on her eventually, but she also said that she feels he does not always research throughly sometimes. For instance, it is only coming around to iodine a bit lately. She also said that some of his info on dentistry is just plain wrong. Anyway, she said she could ask him to come to speak at our convention. Wouldn't that be a coup? What do you guys think his topic should be? I am thinking maybe Vitamins since he is always promoting that. I know he could talk at length about D and C. But the big question is , will he come for free as all the others are willing to do?
Crunchy, as Althea said, it is best to stay off of other threads. Those who are open to our way of thinking will find there way here. I use to want to scream when I would see how much women were suffering on arimidex and tamox and taking it anyway. Now I just let them complain, unless someone specifically asks is there an alternative. You can lead a horse to water. . .
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Good advice, vivre... good advice. I'm going to stop even READING them because it makes me too sad and mad.
It makes my blood boil to think that there are women going to their OBGYNs in their 20s and 30s who present with hormone imbalances, high BMI's, poor diets, iodine deficiency, etc..., and the docs generally DON'T KNOW ENOUGH about how to help these women.
THIS IS SO TRUE!!!!!!!! When I went to my OBGYN in 2007 after two years of infertility (after our first pregnancy and miscarriage in 2005), I had started trashing my health (because of depression)... gained 30 pounds over 2 years etc. Looking back, knowing what I know now, it seems only logical that my OBGYN should have looked at my chart and said, "Hmm, you've put on 15 pounds per year for the past 2 years. We need to figure out what's going on there because chances are that's related to your not being able to conceive." Duh, that's so obvious and logical (knowing what I know now!). I put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time... I was eating junk food and not exercising... OF COURSE my hormones were going to be way out of balance.
Nope, he didn't even address ANY of that, just said "Here's a prescription for Clomid... take it for three months... call me if you're not pregnant the fourth month."
BTW, a few months later, my infertility specialist lambasted me for taking cinnamon as a supplement (I wasn't even taking it in pill form -- just incorporating it into my diet each day). He gave me a chilling sneer and said, "If it wasn't approved by the FDA, DO NOT take it -- it could cause ALL KINDS of damage."
Mmkay, the FDA approves zillions of drugs that have now been pulled off the market because they kill people... but it's dangerous for me to sprinkle a tsp of cinnamon onto my oatmeal or take it in a capsule because the FDA didn't say I could.
HOW SCREWED UP IS THIS LOGIC???????
I guess, in addition to the cancer prevention methods of amputating body parts that *could* get cancer someday and killing off all natural hormone production, we should add a new cancer prevention method... do not consume herbs or spices for medicinal value since they have not been approved by the FDA, and as we all know, that makes them unsafe. Better yet, don't consume ANY herbs, spices, or natural foods, and stick to what the FDA deems to be safe: chemical "food products"!!!
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Althea, well said. Id join your picinic
I have noticed that my body temp has been going up with cinnamon. I put it in my tea and in my meals now and it gets me up to almost 98 - I use the iodized salt now too so maybe that is helping a bit as well (like 1/2 tsp for both).
...the oncologist's job is to give you chemo not cure your cancer - their job is to administer chemotherapy to you through a particular algorithm based on your weight and dx per the ACA guidelines. Sometimes you can get an onc who prefers one regimen over another as well as someone very into clinical studies but somewhere, sometime, there was a huge pissing contest between oncs and nutritionists. Guess who won? My guess is that dietitians are allowed in the chemo suite as long as they stay within the RDI norms. - nothing too too fancy. An Oncs job is to get you to hold your nose and put the nasty medicine in your mouth. ..or by way of IV but you get my point. They are driven by statistics. ..my question is wtf is up with General Practitioners? Aren't they are the ones that should be promoting nutritional health, exercise, supplementation with vitamins and minerals? ..and take insurance. No offense (and I know Im singing to the choir) Ive spent a lot of money on health care practitioners within the past two months. I want to be treated in todays world with the best care today has to offer. I shouldn't have to pay out of pocket and go to a ND for this? Does this not fall under general care? With that said, Ive probably learned more on these forums than I have going to an ND (I have a new rec - thanks deni). I guess my point is that my own personal beef is with general practitioners. I saw one two months prior to my dx and my vitamin d was a whopping 13 and my dr said, well, its winter. ok, off rant. sorry
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PS - I agree 100%. A GP and an ND should be one in the same. And, they should both be covered by insurance. We are in a deep hole because of our high medical bills. A lot is not covered. No supplements are covered. The system sucks!
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Hey-
Wouldn't it be "nice" if most clinics/hospitals had a naturopath on staff where GP's, GYNOs, ONCs, etc...could refer their patients. I realize that they can't possibly know everything, so this would be a great solution, in my mind. The problem is that many docs don't "believe" in natural health care remedies. Like someone mentioned in a previous post, their doc didn't want them to use anything that wasn't FDA approved (I believe he was complaining about her putting cinnamon on her food, for crying out loud....).
I know... I'm just way beyond the scope of reality here...
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That would be nice. Maybe some day soon if we all keep fighting, it will be the new norm. Then it won't be out of the scope of reality!
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