How's it going Friend!
Over the past two weeks I have been sharing part of my respiratory health journey with you. In last week’s newsletter, I mentioned tuning into your body and knowing when something “feels different” so you are able to effectively communicate with your physician as well as to know what you may be going through is not your “normal” issue.
A couple weeks ago, I shared that I had been travelling and while travelling, I felt like I needed to take prednisone because my breathing was “off." When I returned to Italy, I felt well overall because I could breathe better; however, within a few days I began to have a sore throat. I thought nothing of it because I’d just been travelling and chocked it up to the change in countries and weather. I then began to have sinus congestion. Again, this is not out of the norm for me after travelling, so I brushed it off. The thing is, a few days into these symptoms, I was wheezing quite badly.
At first I thought, here we go again. Am I ever going to catch a break? I’ve been doing “all the right things” and yet, I will probably need prednisone again, my rescue inhaler on me at all times and my breathing machine at the ready….
The thing is, SOMETHING felt off. The wheezing was different. The coughing was different. The medications didn’t seem to be doing ANYTHING! I kept telling my husband it didn’t feel like a “normal” asthma attack.
I began to check my pulse ox and initially, it was in the high 80s to low 90s. I was a little concerned, but not overly. The following morning, I was fluctuating between the high 70s and low 80s. I decided to head over to the emergency room. The way my lungs were acting were as though I had an allergen that they were unable to process, so we shared this with the doctors.
They proceeded to take blood, get my vitals, give me IVs and injections as well as a steady flow of oxygen. The doctor’s focus was to treat me as if I was in anaphylaxis without giving me adrenaline. Now, no one shared this with me - I only found out after I was discharged.
My experience of doctors in Italy is that they don’t communicate well with patients and just “expect” them to follow the protocol they prescribe; however, I question EVERYTHING. What is that? What is it for? Why do you feel I need it? I have reactions to this or that - I do not want to take it. I advocate fervently for MY care and this seems to rub doctors, especially here, the wrong way. Eventually, I was released and my discharge indicated I was being treated for anaphylaxis…little did the doctors know, part of what I do is deep dives into lab analyses.
I wasn’t in anaphylaxis - not even close actually! My labs indicated the complete OPPOSITE! Yet not a single doctor or nurse shared this with me. The only thing I was told (after asking multiple times) was that I was C0V!D free. My labs indicated I had a severe infection and inflammation to the point that over 91% of my white blood cells were neutrophils! If I’d been in anaphylaxis, my lymphocytes would’ve been elevated…yet again, NONE of this was communicated with me.
Now you may be wondering, if I had an infection and the doctor didn’t treat me with antibiotics, how in the world did I get rid of the infection? Well, I don’t advise this for any of my patients as I am not a medical doctor; however, I know when the body is given what it needs to heal, it will. This is where being in tune with your body and the subtle differences you experience play a MAJOR role in your healing.
I am in tune with my body, I know how to listen to what it is telling me even if I do ignore it at times. I began taking everything I have that is a natural antimicrobial/antibiotic. Within 48 hours my pulse ox was back up to 93%, the wheezing had significantly subsided and I knew I was on the way to a full recovery. Again, I would not recommend this to a patient as I am not a medical doctor; however, I am more than happy to share what I have learned over the past 12 years in reference to this.
One thing to remember - YOU are your biggest advocate for YOUR health…no one else. Don’t let anyone bully you, put just anything in your body or tell you that you MUST do something if you feel off about it. Now, if it’s life or limb that’s a different story… Just remember, healthcare practitioners don’t know everything and we make mistakes no different than any other human being. Fortunately, I only deal with food so unless you have an allergy to it, there won’t be any unwanted side effects.
I shared all this with you again to remind you, just because I am a healthcare practitioner doesn’t mean that I am not human and won’t get sick. I share it to encourage you to advocate for yourself. I share it to say I’ve been where you are. I share it to say have faith - your body is a POWERFUL thing and does EVERYTHING it can to keep you alive.
Did this resonate with you? Have you ever felt like you were not heard by your physician? Felt unsupported? I would love to hear from you…what is YOUR story? Please email me or feel free to post your journey in the Breathe Easy, Breathe Well community. If you’d like to share your story in an interview, I would LOVE to discuss it with you.
If you want or need a practitioner that is going to listen, take a deep dive into what you say, spend quality time with you (more than 7 minutes), I always offer a free strategy session to determine if I can support you as well as I have a great four month, one to one program that may interest you. CLICK HERE to set up the strategy session and if you can’t find a time that works for you, reach out to me by responding to this email and we can set something up!
I look forward to hearing from you!
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Yours in wellness,
Dawn Encian
MSNIH, LDN, CNS, CMT
Knead Total Wellness
Eating for and Living in Total Wellness
Host of Breathe Easy, Breathe Well Virtual Summit
