Conventional care can be a life saver
Sacramento, Calif. – It's December and today, I'm flying to Alaska, not the smartest month to be flying to Anchorage, Alaska, when you have HAD pneumonia! Yes, pneumonia, HAD is a beautiful word. But, today, thank God, I feel awesome! The seemingly never-ending weeks-long, painful cough, is now gone. My energy is returning to normal. Although my body is a little sore, I feel wonderful. It's now perfect timing to visit my sister, and family in the 49th state!
One week ago today, it was a different story. I was coughing to extreme, worried about pneumonia, and made the big decision to go to urgent care. But at the appointment, the very kind and compassionate medical doctor put the stethoscope on my heart, and said words I will never forget, "you have a murmur," and, if that was not enough, he called me later in the day with the results of the X-Ray that I do indeed have pneumonia. WOW! Within 5 hours, I was told I had pneumonia and a heart murmur. A follow-up echocardiogram is scheduled for late December!
Despite feeling on the top of the world in September, walking from Knoxville to Milwaukee, 25 miles per day for 29 days, I was vulnerable in November. What might have gone wrong? After a month of 9-11 hours per day of summer sunshine and maximizing my vitamin D storage for optimal immunity, and also feeling the overwhelming psychological and health benefits of walking outside, all day, I came back to the office, and immediately began working again all day in a building. Also, I wasn't taking my vitamin D, or any other supplements, and I was probably more stressed than I knew, and, being 67 years of age old, probably didn't help. There may have been a little bad luck thrown in there for good measure, as well!
Also, because of a nagging injury on my foot, I decided to get treatment in my clinic and take a break from walking while receiving treatment. I went from an average of 18,000 steps (9 miles) per day for three and a half years, to only 3,000 steps per day. My most severe lifetime illness has been a wakeup call to reduce stress, and to do more diligent self-care.
Open-mindedness
Although I am a Naturopathic Doctor, I recommend patients be open to all forms of medicine. My mom was an RN for 34 years. I grew up around conventional medicine, but, also, she had her natural remedies as well. My son, Isaiah, at age 6, may have died without antibiotics, and my wife has been helped numerous times by conventional care, as well as my sister on her journey with ovarian cancer the last 17+ years. And, this time antibiotics helped me to clear the pneumonia.
Moral of the story
So, the moral of the story is keeping an open mind to all remedies to get healthier. Drugs cannot make you healthy, but they can help you from not being dead. Not being dead is a good thing. The goal of Naturopathic Medicine is not only finding the cause of disease and treating with natural remedies, but to help the patient to attain optimal health.
Natural medicine can help you to thrive, but sometimes, drugs and surgery can be wise choices. The point is, be open-minded. Learn the facts.
Explore additional topics from Sacramento Naturopathic Medical Center with Dr. Godby, ND, MA and his team at Natural Wellness.
As a naturopathic doctor for the last 20 years, I have witnessed the power of a preventative lifestyle and naturopathic medicine to transform the health and lives of thousands of patients.
Sacramento Naturopathic
2530 J Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95816
Phone: (916) 446-2591
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