Is anyone else tired of the idea that cutting out body parts yields health? If something isn’t quite right or is causing pain, the response seems to be: cut it out. That may seem to make sense — get rid of the item that’s producing problems — but it fails to take into account our holistic bodies. Everything is connected. Everything (or darn close) plays a part in keeping these bodily machines operating. Things aren’t working in isolation. Generally, the puzzle pieces all fit together. A missing piece interrupts the flow of the whole picture. You often have to dive deeper when something’s off, not hack off parts.
Take one organ: The often-maligned poor appendix. Research shows it actually performs a useful function. That doesn’t seem like rocket science to me. I believe all of our organs must be there for a reason. Just because we can’t figure it out doesn’t mean a good reason doesn’t exist.
Appendicitis, as I understand it, is painful. I can see how cutting it out and being rid of that pain may seem like a great idea. But what happens when you later need that appendix to restore good bacteria that helps you recover after something like a bad case of diarrhea or after you’ve been on antibiotics? It also appears to make, direct and train white blood cells, which are your body’s defense system. Seems like a better idea to keep it if you can.
I had a gall bladder attack years ago. Wow, talk about pain. It was the closest I’ve ever come to wondering if I was dying. But I resisted the race to the hospital, knowing intuitively I wouldn’t like their solutions. I’m so grateful for that now. When the pain ended, I did my usual — researched, decided some things to do different on my own and enlisted the aid of my holistic doc. With all that, I was able to go about remedying the gall bladder issue in a whole-body (and whole mind) manner. I still have my gall bladder, and I now know how to go about keeping it healthier. There are many who have it removed, then still suffer great pain only to find the medical community is pretty much out of answers in how to truly help them (other than offering up major pain medication) because there is nothing else to cut out.
My daughter, as a young teen, suffered with back pain, supposedly from a curve in her spine. After plying her with lots of pain meds and muscle relaxants, the doctor wanted her to undergo surgery. Even though I wasn’t as well versed in holistic ways of going about wellness then, I was really resistant to putting my dear child under the knife. It wasn’t life threatening; we could try other options before resorting to that.
A combo of chiropractic work and deep tissue massage remedied my daughter’s back issues/pain. She is fine today, and, like me with my gall bladder, knows what to do to keep it that way. Safely, naturally. A much better choice than surgery that may have put her at great risk. Her best friend’s sister ended up wheelchair-bound for life after similar surgery. I’ve recently read of another who ended up the same way. I’m sure there are more.
Can we put a moratorium on too quickly resorting to surgery as “the” answer? If it’s life threatening, then it is. If it’s not, and you have time to investigate and try out various other options, then, please, take advantage of those first. You can’t later restore a cut-out organ, fused spine, etc. That so-called solution of surgery may either be only temporary or lead to even greater problems down the road. Proceed with caution; you have everything to gain by becoming your own best medical advocate.
