Self-Managed Health

I've just been thinking a lot about health, so I think I'll do an "Afternoon Series on Natural Approaches to Health", sort of thing for a few days or a week here, hehe.

Since I graduated from college I more and more have moved toward managing my own health—honestly, mostly out of negligence. I didn’t really have a doctor that I liked and trusted . . .

But in that time I have found doctors that I like and trust—a therapist, a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a Reproductive Endocronologist (helped us get pregnant with james), a midwife, and even, most recently, a naturopath. There are some common elements in ALL these people that I have realized bring health care into a new level for me, and now I can’t go back:

-Most of them have similar values for the most part. They like to get to the bottom of a problem instead of treating symptoms, they like to prevent rather than treat, they are interested in natural methods, etc.
-Most of them are actual friends of ours or I would be friends with them in a different situation.
-Most of them are in solo practice. Meaning I call their office and they answer the phone, or they have one secretary who may or may not be their wife, haha. Honestly this is a huge deal for me. I like the personal thing.
-And finally most of them respect me as another intelligent person able to make her own decisions and do her own research about things.

So this bar has been set by these excellent specialists and alternative health professionals, and really since I graduated from college (gosh, has it been SIX years?), I have had my ears out for a Primary Care Doctor who would meet this standard.

Meeting the naturopath recently was a great step, but really I need someone who is able to write prescriptions. I can manage my own health up the ying-yang but sometimes you need a prescription, and I can’t do that, unfortunately.

And honestly, thank God James and I have the same prescriptions. We both use an albuterol inhaler for asthma (him as a rescue inhaler, me when I get sick), and we both take adderall for ADHD (me only sometimes). So I’ve pretty much leached off of his prescriptions since the college graduation six years ago (crazy how time goes).

But today is a big day! I am off to the actual doctor. Dr. M. I got her name from several people I trust that she is sort of hands-off and supportive of alternative health, which is what I’m looking for, I guess!

I’m actually nearly feeling better but still going to go so that later this summer when I have Lyme’s Disease I’ll be a patient there. J/k I hope.