SERIES:   

COVID, VACCINES, and INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

 

 

Part 1:  Integrative Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been an Intense Year full of Challenges, Grief, Loss, and Confusion. I hope you are well and coping in a healthy way! No doubt, it is an interesting time to be on Planet Earth.  And there have been some Opportunities for Change, Growth, New Perspectives and always…. Possibilities.

 

Now we are Here…one year into the Pandemic, and I have been receiving an Extra-Ordinary number of Requests for Information about the Vaccines.   Everyone is wondering what I think of the Vaccine and if they should get it.   If they do get it, what should they take to help support them.   And if they don’t get the Vaccine, what are the options?

 

I decided it would be best to discuss my thoughts and current updated Education on the matter with you in a series of Newsletters.  We will discuss COVID, a year in, all the latest things that we know about it, and how we can support our bodies to prevent disease or recover from disease.   I will also talk about my current Education on the Vaccines and the strategies that are out there to help support people that take the vaccine to have a good outcome. 

 

 

 

However, I want to share everything that I can with you so that you to make the best decision for Yourself.

 

 

COVID, VACCINES and INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

Part 1: Integrative Medicine

Part 2: Covid One Year In

Part 3: Covid Strategies/ Prevention

Part 4: Covid Strategies/ During Infection

Part 5: Covid Strategies /Recovery from Illness and the Post Covid Syndrome

Part 6: Vaccine Types and Overview

Part 7: Vaccine Prep with Integrative Medicine

Part 8: Vaccine Follow Up Strategies

Part 9: Resources

 

 

 

Stay Informed and Flexible

 

It is good to have a healthy skepticism of the Medical System and the Pharmaceutical Industry.    There are certainly concerns over both of these mammoths that have such large amounts of money behind them.   On the other hand, we must be able to discern and make informed decisions about the pros and cons of using Western Medicine, Holistic Medicine or both in every unique situation.

 

Many of my patients and people that live a lifestyle of Holistic and Alternative Medicine, have the Idea that they are cheating or doing something bad it they choose a Vaccine or Medication for a Disease or Illness.   I do not see things in this Black and White Way.    I come at Medicine from an Integrative Medicine approach.

 

Staying informed about science and medicine and staying flexible to options is important in a time like we are in now.   It is my personal belief from my experiences and knowledge that we have come to a time in our evolution that we can embrace the great advances of Science and Medicine and Harmonize them with the Ancient Knowledge and Wisdom of Mother Nature.

 

 

 

Stay tuned for our next episode:

 

Part 1: Integrative Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Story…How I got here…

 

My family introduced Natural Medicine Principles to me as Young Child.   That was life changing and fairly radical growing up in Cleveland in the 70’s.    While my passion in learning was in EVERYTHING Alternative, my passion in my lifestyle was also EVERYTHING Alternative.   I alternated between Holistic Health Advocate by day and Party Animal at night.      I eventually sought recovery for addiction from drugs, alcohol, and eventually food.  The spectrum then swung in the other direction into a militant approach to Health and Wellness.    In my early years of Education and Healing, I was a strong Advocate for everything Natural, nothing Medical. 

 

Then 20 years of working with Rockstar’s on tour changed EVERYTHING.   I learned to work with Extreme Personalities that were trying to balance the contradictory desires to Live Life to the Fullest and Be Healthy Too.    This non-judgmental approach is the foundation of my book, The Rockstar Remedy. 

 

My healing Pilgrimage brought me a few Health challenges that changed my perspectives on Western Medicine.   Years of International Travel made me come face to face with the world of Parasites and Sepsis.    Lyme disease brought me to my knees and Doxycycline saved my life.   I was able to use my knowledge and tools in my Natural Medicine toolkit to support the Western Medicine treatments.     I am sure that Western Medicine helped save my life a few times.   However, I am sure the Naturopathic Tools and Supportive treatments helped my body to really heal from the Western Treatments with Complete recovery and vitality. 

 

I don’t see Western Medicine as the enemy.   I am grateful for it and all the advances that it has brought.    It can be amazing for Infections, Acute problems, Emergency and Severe Illness.   On the other hand, Naturopathic and Alternative Medicine offers the lifestyle changes and education that bring true healing and recovery.   They are also amazing for helping the body to be able to handle the more aggressive Medical Approach without the damage.  

 

For example, when I had Lyme…I saw Doxycycline as the Drones that were bombing the enemy.   But my Detox Smoothie was rebuilding the border wall and rebuilding the foundation of my terrain.   And other specific supplements were Rebuilding my Army or Immune system.   A treatment that normally devastates people’s immune system literally left me unscathed and thriving.   I combined the Best of both worlds and recovered from Lyme Disease without it moving into a chronic debilitating disease.

 

 

 

Something that I have come to believe and experience both personally and in practice is that …

 

“Western Medicine can be part of the Holistic Option.”

 

 

Although it is rarely and almost never, the only option for healing, it can be part of the solution.   The Strength of Holistic Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Complimentary Medicine and Naturopathic Medicine are in Education, Empowerment, Prevention…Giving the patient the tools they need to make life changes to prevent chronic disease states and susceptibilities.  Yet, in many situations, Western Medicine can be part of the treatment and solution.  

 

And…you aren’t cheating if you go there!

 

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE…What is is it?

 

Integrative Medicine is an approach to care that puts the patient at the center and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect a person’s health. Employing a personalized strategy that considers the patient’s unique conditions, needs and circumstances, it uses the most appropriate interventions from an array of scientific disciplines to heal illness and disease and help people regain and maintain optimum health.

 

Integrative Medicine is grounded in the definition of health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” 

 

Integrative medicine seeks to restore and maintain health and wellness across a person’s lifespan by understanding the patient’s unique set of circumstances and addressing the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect health.  Through personalizing care, integrative medicine goes beyond the treatment of symptoms to address all the causes of an illness. In doing so, the patient’s immediate health needs as well as the effects of the long-term and complex interplay between biological, behavioral, psychosocial and environmental influences are taken into account. 

 

Integrative medicine is not the same as alternative medicine, which refers to an approach to healing that is utilized in place of conventional therapies, or complementary medicine, which refers to healing modalities that are used to complement allopathic approaches. If the defining principles are applied, care can be integrative regardless of which modalities are utilized.

 

The Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine

 

1. Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.
2. All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.
3. Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.
4. Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.
5. Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.
6. Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.
7. Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
8. Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

 

Follow me and stay tuned for our next Episode:

PART 2:  Covid-19 One Year In