Having the faith to be okay to live or to die.

I met a young lady who has battled cancer since she was seven years old. It was a brain tumor and she has endured surgeries, radiation, and worst, recurrences. Her mama has that look in her eyes of wanting to naturally do anything to save her baby girl. I met her mom first and after hearing the history of her daughter, I expected something totally different.

Her daughter has such confidence and peace about her. Just a matter of fact nature about her but not in a negative way. She has faith. She had a near death experience when she was younger and coming out of surgery. She felt like she was in the arms of God and she saw her dad that had died when she was too young to remember him. He told her "not yet". Then she woke up.

Now she is facing growing tumors in her brain and spine and she has maxed out radiation. They are offering her another because that is her last choice. Now she has the opportunity to visit her family's country of origin in a month. The question is to get one more radiation treatment just in case before the trip but risk it being too much and her being disabled? Does she go and risk becoming symptomatic (she is okay right now) in a country that may not have resources to help her symptoms? Maybe nothing will happen?

She says she has lived with everything focusing on this cancer her whole life that she can remember. She just wants to live and enjoy this trip. She realizes she will likely die from this cancer but she is okay with that but just doesn't really want to know when. She knows what is waiting for her on the other side. Acceptance does not mean giving up. It doesn't mean she is hopeless or in despair. She is strong in her faith to know that either way she wins. Now if her mom can ever accept that. I am not sure that is possible to ever accept as a mom but the strength of this young lady and the love of this mother for her child really hit me. Her normalcy in light of her illness surprised me. Her faith inspires me.

Comments

Why This Doctor Doesn't Get Her Flu Shot!

Why Smart Doctors Don’t Get Flu Shots Smart doctors don’t get flu shots. Smart patients don’t either. Does that mean you’re not smart if you got a flu shot? No. It means the pharmaceutical industry has you and your wallet right where they want you. It means you believed the hype instead of looking at the science. Smart doctors don’t get flu shots. But I’m a doctor and not only did I get them, I insisted my mom and my siblings get their flu shot too. Once you hear my story, you will see that I can’t judge anyone who gets a flu vaccine. But I do judge an industry that tries to terrify and deceive people into getting a flu vaccine they do not want or need. I made my mom and siblings get the flu vaccine too Growing up, I never had a flu shot and I also never had the flu. But as a young adult thinking about starting a family, I listened to my doctor. I was told getting a flu shot was not only good for me and my family, it was essential. Life-sav...

Why No Doctor Should Ever Recommend Tylenol Again

Last week we were talking about toxins to avoid when you’re trying to conceive . This week we’ve got another toxin on the docket. The toxin is acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol (known as paracetamol in Europe). No doctor should ever recommend Tylenol again. Not to pregnant women. Not to newborns. Not to small children. “But my doctor says Tylenol is safe.” I am a doctor myself and a nice southern girl. I don’t like to criticize other doctors but I’ll be honest with you: your doctor does not know what he does not know. Tylenol has not been shown to be safe for children. If your doctor would spend just half an hour reviewing the peer-reviewed medical literature about Tylenol, your doctor will realize it has not been proven safe. Acetaminophen may very well be a main trigger for certain childhood neurological disorders, including autism, as well as childhood asthma . Just ask a team of research scientists and medical doctors from Duke and Harvard Universities whose...

My cold handout I give to my patients. Sinus infections need the same treatment plus antibiotics.

This is the handout I give to my patients. I would love to hear your stories and your tips. We haven't found the cure to the common cold but there are many things we can do to support us while we have one. What Is A Cold? A cold is a viral sinus infection- “too much snot”, coughing, facial pain, sore throat, headache, ear popping or pain, pain in the sides of neck- glands feel “swollen”, coughing all night (like in the Nyquil commercials). A chest cold is when the drainage gets into the chest. It can feel like you have a fist in front of your chest or you can’t take in a deep breath (but it should not feel as though you are short of breath). Studies show we treat colds too quickly as sinus infections and we are not allowing your body to heal itself. Even mild bacterial sinusitis does NOT typically need antibiotics. The more antibiotics that you use now, the less effective your immune system will be and the less effective the antibiot...

Search This Blog