Earlier, I was overwhelmed by the intensity of my burning throat and sinus congestion. This had been going on for days, off and on for months now, and I was sick and tired of it. I cried, I paced, I prayed. I cried some more. I paced some more. I prayed with an intensity that only those who are fed up with their situation do. “God, pleeeeeease help me. I’m not getting no better. Please don’t let this be cancer. Please don’t let me not be able to sing again.” The pleading and crying went on and on until my Wise Self took over.
I could spend my time pleading or I could consider that the God I was pleading with had been there through some tough times. Some I-can’t-take-no-more days. In retrospect, there wasn’t a time when I prayed that He didn’t hear me. Sometimes that’s the only assurance you get in the moment – that God hears you. You don’t know what His answer will be, but you know that He sees, He knows, He cares. In life, in death, He shows up. In sickness, in health, He shows up. In sorry, in joy, He shows up. He’s healed me from the inside so much and so until my environment has been transformed. I am walking at a level of consciousness and liberty that is a miracle even to me. So why wouldn’t He hear me? Heal me? Help me? He'd done it before so of course He will. With all He had done, it wouldn't make sense for Him to allow me to be unhealthy when I am prospering emotionally, have a fulfilling romantic relationship, have a job with the flexibility and autonomy that I need, and live in a larger place that makes room for me. So I stopped wailing. I could sit here feeling sorry for myself , wait for my doctor's visit or be proactive about my own health.
Licorice extract. Hummmm, I thought. This might be an answer. You see, I had purchased a magazine some days ago called Natural Health. I hadn’t opened it though. I don’t know if something on the cover caught my attention or what, but I felt inclined. While flipping through the pages, I came upon an article. It was a compilation of tips from well-known practitioners in the alternative medicine world. Dr. Andrew Weil’s interview peaked my interest. He talked about how there were herbal remedies for many of the maladies that we deal with. He named Licorice extract for reflux. Eureka!!!!!
After leaving the Vitamin Shoppe, I went to the grocery store. I had picked up some nutritional tips from the Dr. Weil's website. Fortunately, what I purchased wasn’t much different from what I’d normally eat. I just knew I had to be more conscious and purposeful in my eating. I had been eating out alot. He advised keeping a food log. Yes, food log to see if there were certain foods that were more bothersome than others.
Yesterday’s food log entry (I am so tempted to say Captain's Log, Star Date July 20, 2011):
Breakfast
A berry smoothie using flavored water, frozen strawberries, fresh blueberries and ice cubes I had made from V8 splash fruit drink. It was pretty good.
Later, I had a bowl of cereal. It was one of those ones in the organic section of the supermarket with all those whole grains they listed on the website as rich in fiber. Instead of dairy, I purchased some Almond Breeze Almond Milk. Who would have thought that Millet and Ama-something would taste this good.
Lunch
Grape chicken salad from Lowe’s Foods. That stuff is the bomb! I had it stuffed in a pita. Drank a green vegetable juice drink from some Go Greens type of powder I got from Vitamin Shoppe. Of course, I used flavored water just in case it tasted horrible. It was okay though. I could drink this regularly, I thought.
Around 3pm, I took a Claritin. I waited for 20-30 minutes for it to kick in. I honestly couldn’t tell much of an immediate difference. I had less sinus congestion though.
I also gargled with some warm salt water. That actually helped I think more than anything else.
Dinner
Broiled salmon, cabbage, Uncle Ben’s wild and brown rice. Instead of blackening my salmon or using the parsley garlic salt like usual, I decided to just go with a li’l salt and pepper with extra virgin olive oil swizzled on it. When the fish was done, it was a bit bland to me so I livened it up with a couple of shakes of cinnamon and added a little honey. Put it back in the oven for a minute. It was actually quite tasty.
Because I ate around 6:00ish and had pretty much sat on my rump for most of the day working on my computer, I decided to get up and get moving. As I watched So You Think You Can Dance on TV, I jogged in place for about 20-30 minutes. Too hot to go outdoors. Then I did some resistance stretching, using the stretch band I got from a physical therapist last year when I had hand pain.
Most telling was my sleep last night. Not only did I not awaken to a burning throat but my night sweats were less. I slept really well. As I type today, I still feel the sensation in my throat so I will still go to a GI doctor and scheduled an Upper GI Endoscopy. I am also going to schedule something with an alternative medicine person recommended by one of my friends. I want to rule out food allergies, hormonal influences from being perimenopausal as well as digestive issues. Something's going on and I want to know what it is. I also decided to stop taking the Nexium. I can’t see it really helping. I had already taken 13 days of Zegerid prior. Better results from the Licorice Extract, I think.
Regardless, I know that God will lead me. I want to know what’s going on with my body and address that, not just mask symptoms. Here's to the journey. Later!
