Take the Good with the Bad

A very close family member was recently diagnosed with endometrial cancer.  She is undergoing a hysterectomy soon and has to stay healthy.  I brought her some green tea with honey, organic cinnamon, ginger, and lemon in a big mason jar.  She doesn’t like the taste of green tea, but really enjoyed this stuff.  I also gave her garlic and kiwi to help keep her healthy.

A friend from work also gave me a jar of elderberry syrup her sister made which staves off cold and flu.  It tastes pretty good, too!  The recipe is here and I’m definitely going to make it soon!  I gave her some of that, too.  Family members have been providing her with holistic remedies, too.  She’s starting to use kale…finally! And eating healthier, taking Echinacea, and drinking tea.  I showed her some basic yoga moves to help get her a little more active.  I have a big notebook filled with healthy and green tips that I go through with her when I see her.  She’s slowly working to watch the containers that she buys things in. 

It can be difficult to watch out for crazy chemicals.  I just bought a yoga ball that I’m using as an office chair to help with balance, posture, and help me focus (I get ADD as a side effect of bipolar at times).  The Gold’s Gym Stay Ball has a warning on the box that states the product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and reproductive issues.  YIKES.  I’m sure that all yoga balls contain these chemicals, but this brand actually calls it out.  It’s pretty disconcerting, especially considering the family history of colon cancer (both sides of the family), uteran and now endometrial cancers.  These things are in the products we use daily, whether we realize it or not.  Below is an great starter article from one of my favorite green living sites on toxins we ingest without even realizing it.  We shouldn’t have to weigh the benefits against the risk of products that we buy.  But alas, the cost of industrialism in the modern world hits medically home.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10504/10-things-i-wish-all-americans-knew-about-toxins.html

Another thing I battle with is being on bipolar medicine.  That’s a huge benefit versus risk.  When I have a baby, certainly some of the chemicals in the medicines will have transferred to it.  I’ve talked to my prescriber about it, and he says that I’m on the only medicine that is safe for pregnancy.  Just because it’s termed safe doesn’t mean it is ideal.  In my situation, I take the good with the bad and will remain on Lamictal during pregnancy.  I’ve had friends who have gone off medication and used marijuana instead.  Though for a few months it seemed to work, they ended up needing to go back on medicine which immediately improved their lives.  It’s times like that where chemicals are necessary and work far better than relying solely on herbal remedies.  Much like my family member with cancer, having surgery is absolutely happening, but taking holistic precautions isn’t harmful and will help her stay healthy and positive.