My dramatic return to health - Pre Menopause, Menopause, Progesterone, Withheld information and more.

This is a letter I recently wrote while on the path to regaining my health, my sanity and my life in general! I think it is past time to take charge of our health and share what we discover with the ones we love! Here is the letter; I hope it helps someone. If so, let me know!

Dear Friends; An urgent plea and testimony to my friends and family.

I am compelled to share a testimony with you about how my life has recently changed because of some drastic health improvements. I’d like to be able to tell you that I have carefully followed the instructions of my doctor, and in so doing, found relief from not only the symptoms that have been increasingly plaguing me for over a year, but also the fear and emotional strain that accompanies such things. I can’t do that, because it’s not true.

What is true is that after untold hours of research on topics surrounding women’s health, I put into place a regime of changes and supplements that have turned my life around in less than three months! These changes have been summarily discarded by the medical professionals in my life, and have flown directly in the face of “conventional” medicine and the modern pharmaceutical “wisdom” (or shall we say manipulation or even abuse?!).

Most of you know that I am 46 years old (good grief, how did that happen?) For over a year, my monthly cycles have become increasingly painful. Although they had been getting bad for some time, last April (2007), when we traveled out of town to represent a company at a homeschool conference, I had such terrible pain for over two days that I came within a hair of going to the emergency ward – only the prospect of sitting there for hours in the middle of the night, kept me in bed, writhing and moaning, and waiting for a measure of relief from the overdose of ibuprofen that I had just taken.

With this kind of scenario being repeatedly played out over the past year, I was getting to the point of hoping for a hysterectomy before we leave for a five week vacation this coming summer. How could I contemplate perhaps sitting on a plane, a train, or facing a day of sightseeing when my “time” came at least once, and maybe twice during our absence? It was unthinkable! How could I survive that, when I couldn’t even walk down the hall without help from my husband, or sometimes could not even get out of bed in the night to use the washroom or take medication? Everyday functions became difficult, excruciating, or impossible. Toilet functions were painful, I couldn’t stand up straight, I often had a headache, my belly was painful to touch and I could hardly sleep at night, and often could not turn over in bed! I was reduced to tears at the mere thought of an approaching period.

After a follow-up ultrasound of my abdomen (had one just over a year ago too), and a routine pelvic exam, my physician told me that a fibroid tumor in my uterus had doubled in size and that I had a new ovarian cyst (I’ve had surgery twice in the past 20 years for this). She talked about putting me on the “pill” (read estrogen). Consequently, she sent me to a gynecologist.

Six weeks before I saw the gynecologist, I had begun taking some supplements http://www.vitalhealthfoods.ca/lorna/EstroSense/EstroSense031newPI.pdf recommended to support female hormone balance. I showed the information to the doctor, foolishly and naively thinking he would be interested, since in the six weeks of taking them, I had begun to experience some significant improvement in my symptoms. He had little to say except that “the placebo effect is well researched”!! As much as to say: “Well, dear, if you like to spend money on placebos, you go right ahead; I guess they won’t hurt you”. His answer? More estrogen! and perhaps later, a hysterectomy!!

Meanwhile, I was continuing my research about PMS, pre-menopause, menopause, cancer risks, estrogen dominance, plastics, xenoestrogens (foreign estrogen-like molecules) and more. I ordered some natural progesterone cream from the US (because it is not available except by prescription in Canada) and began using it just two weeks ago. (The site is below ** and I ordered their into. pack with two cd’s, three pumps of Happy PMS cream, and a book “What Your Doctor May NOT tell You About PreMenopause”)

I am currently experiencing a near-pain-free menstrual cycle. I have not had a headache worth mentioning for several weeks. I have had just a little cramping this cycle (which I anticipate dropping to none within a month or two). There is no tenderness in my abdomen or breasts; I can walk, run, cook, and vacuum. The flow of blood is much less and I have taken only a little ibuprofen in three days where I normally would be popping them every four hours, and sometimes taking more than recommended along with acetaminophen with codeine, a heating pad and a lot of sympathy from my family!

If you have ANY pms symptoms: bloating, breast tenderness, pain, moodiness, depression, or painful menses, heavy flow etc; if you have had or are thinking about having a hysterectomy, have a family history of breast, ovarian, or uterine cancer; if you are concerned about or know you already have a problem with osteoporosis; if you are or have been on HRT (hormone replacement therapy), Provera (synthetic progestin – NOT to be confused with progesterone) or the Pill; if you are aging quickly, have foggy thinking, lethargy, have trouble getting or staying pregnant…

PLEASE look up some of the information provided on these web sites. If you do not have internet access, please contact me and I will provide you with further information. I’m not selling anything – just the information that might help you or others you know, to live a normal life!

http://www.johnleemd.com/store/estrogen_dom.html

http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/Estrogen_Dominance.cfm

http://www.yourlifesource.com/estrogen-dominance.htm

And for your husband, brother, father, son or uncle… (this is for prostate concerns as well!!)
http://www.yourlifesource.com/estrogen-dominance.htm

For Menopause, Pre-Menopause, Prostate and other cancer concerns…

Here is the site of the company from which I purchased the progesterone cream in the states. It is sent as a “moisturizing body cream” and gets through customs. They are very helpful, give fast service and are a reliable progesterone supplier (not all creams are created equally – some have little/none/too much progesterone in them). If you live near me, we can order it together and save quite a bit. Let me know if you are interested.

You can also buy an inexpensive, easy-to-use saliva testing kit to test your progesterone levels. Blood tests do not show a reliable result because they test the blood serum and the progesterone is carried mainly by the red cells. Okay, here it is…

http://www.happypms.com/

Also, for those of you who are a little older, or have ageing parents, this is also significant for them! Estrogen dominance is not just a problem for child-bearing years and middle age! Progesterone is used by all kinds of body systems: brain function, cell health, adrenal function, skin, eyes, nerve sheath repair (myelin sheath), prostate health, testosterone production, respiratory system, and more.

Our modern world is flooded with foreign estrogen-like molecules in everything from car exhaust, carpets, soaps, lotions, food (commercially raised meat and dairy), pesticides, adhesives et al. Of course, we cannot eliminate all of these sources, but knowing where they are, can help us to reduce exposure, and adding progesterone where and as indicated, can balance your body so it functions more closely to its design specifications!! J

I thank the Designer – our great God and Saviour for helping me and healing me! Soli Deo Gloria!

I could write much more, but I leave you with three “pleas”...

Ø Please do not allow your doctor to keep you from the truth! Most of them never have time to read much more than the information provided by the pharmaceutical companies!!
Ø Please at least look at a couple of the sites I have mentioned.
Ø Please pass this information on to others


In His Service,

Lorraine

A Bit of Rocky Path

I've come to a bit of road where there are rocks to dodge and deal with. It looks familiar though - I'm sure we've been on a bit of path like it before. When the way is rough and the weather is dull, that is when you hope someone will come upon your little bit of road on the Journey to help hoist the load and say a word or two of encouragement for the miles ahead. Maybe you're that person, or maybe you need the encouragement yourself. Come along in anycase, and perhaps we can help each other - another set of eyes to spot the rocks is always welcome.


Although the path looks bare, I'm not traveling alone at this time, so maybe you should meet my Journeying companion. She is younger than I , at least chronologically, but wise beyond her years, and full of the zeal, hope, and fervor for Jesus that we all can draw from. My companion is a dear sister, longing for more of the fellowship we all hold so dear, a faithful friend whom I have had the pleasure of getting to know over a number of years. The youthful pilgrim at my side is none other than my sweet daughter, and a Daughter of the King she is indeed!


It seemed that we were just lately walking upon a grassy vale, and the way was easy, but we turned a corner and I found my feet finding their awkward way through rocks that are, I admit probably partly of my own making, and partly there due to circumstances. As we have talked along the way, I have learned of many in the Faith that she is able to fellowship with at a distance - fine sisters and brothers in Christ who encourage and uphold one another, pray, study, worship and encourage one another. Alas, on our little section of path, the one where we rub shoulders with pilgrims on the way in a more flesh-and-blood kind of way, there are earnest young pilgrims in short supply. Where are they? Has the dark forest of our day's culture swallowed them all, made the remaining ones all but obscure to the sight?


I waver between hope and hurt at this juncture of the road. I long for her, for the fellowship of young believers to be a real and tangible thing. Not for a moment does she, or I, diminish the sweet unity and fellowsip of the older saints - my petite pilgrim knows well the riches to be found in the hearts of mature journeymen, and joyfully gleans from their years of wisdom gained on the road. But are there a few younger men and women who would join together to encourage, study, pray and worship the King? In this day, the road can be lonely for the young and earnest Christian, and my friend feels the pang of this loss. I feel it for her.


I need to pause here, perhaps take that little path over there and spend a bit of time alone with the Path Master. I know that He is faithful, and will show us the way. Perhaps just around that corner, or over the little hill beyond the trees we'll see the travelers we seek. If not we will press on I know, for this is the narrow way and there is no other way that will lead where we need to go. At the end, we will see His face and understand this part of the Journey.

Got Klingons?

Okay, I know this is supposed to be about the journey on the narrow path, not the long and winding worm-hole... I haven't forgotten.

I was lying in bed awake at some ridiculous time the other night (sometimes I lie there wondering how many others are also, at that moment, trying to get back to sleep, almost willing it to happen, but just lying there waiting for the magic hour and a half to go by - but I digress). I was thinking about my new blog and trying to decide whom I would talk about first, as having been important in some way on my Journey thus far. Par for the course for wee-hour- musings, my mind wandered and I found myself remembering an old Star Trek episode with Worf going through some crazy ritual in the holodeck - something frightfully important to him in his 'right of passage' or something. He had to pass through a short path between two rows of fierce fellow (albeit virtual) Klingons who would do him the supreme honour of prodding him with painsticks. Sounds like fun eh?!! Propelled by the pain, honour and his desire to get to the end of the path without crying like a baby, Worf triumphantly reaches the end, and collapses in a heap of agony and bliss! Makes you glad your're not a Klingon - or are you?

Well, I know it's a stretch, but this is my blog, and heck, I like analogies, so here goes....

I was musing (I like that word better than "thinking", don't you? :-) about the Klingons in my life, and the 'painsticks' they have held and prodded me with unmercifully. Some of them had done a really fine job too, and there had been times in my life when I too had collapsed, figuratively, in a heap of exhaustion, agony and aparent defeat (okay, here the analogy breaks down, but it's been fun so far). Worf's bliss angle just wasn't part of the scenario in these cases, but something else was; something Worf missed, mostly because he isn't real and not created by a loving, all-powerful, all-knowing God Who was intent on using all things to work for my good. Poor Worf!!

God allowed alot of 'Klingon Warriors' to poke me with their sticks. Sometimes I wouldn't have gone the right way if I hadn't been prodded, and sometimes I look back and think it was the only way this thick-headed gal could have learned some of the lessons I needed to stay on the path later on. Often the pain inflicted by the Klingon stick was in the form of pain I had given to someone else - there's nothing like a little painful prod to make one see the truth about themselves - and sometimes you have to take some of your own medicine before you get healed of that disease.

It hasn't been a case of miles and miles of 'Klingons' to get me to the narrow path, but I do see the places that God allowed me to suffer, feel the pain, and collapse in agony so I would cry out to Him. He wants us on the Narrow Way, and uses many ways to get and keep us there. There have been many gracious gardens along the way too, and strong and gentle warriors, friends and fellow travellers to ease the journey, and next time I'll pick one of them to talk about.

Remember, "we're Pilgrims on a Journey of the Narrow Road, and those who've gone before us line the way"... Stay with me, travel with me and we'll learn together, and maybe encourage a few fellow travellers while we go.

Starting Somewhere

This is my sweet girl over 15 years ago. She was starting on a journey then that would bring her to today where she is a lovely young woman who loves the Lord and follows hard after Him. More on her and my wonderful, faithful and loving husband later.

Mostly, this blog will be about that journey - the journey of faith that looks the same and yet different for all of us, and culminates in the wondrous entry into the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus.

Each of us meets plenty of folk on the Journey - some are there for a few minutes, days, months or years. Some are a huge encouragement and build us up, challenge and help us over the tough spots on the path. Others ARE some of the tough spots on the path, and they too, are part of the Journey. Some know they have been a big part of our lives, and others will not know til That Day.

Some of us begin the Journey early in life and hardly know of a time when we were not "on the path", others of us start falteringly, coming later to the Way, and stumbling along with the help of those who are already walking steadily and surely.

In this blog, I want to share with you some of the blessings of my own Journey and tell how God has brought different people and circumstances to bear on my life, and explore something of what it means to be on the narrow road and what the parameters of that road might be.

I started out as a "homeschool" blogger, but that is only a part of the Journey that has shaped me, although I must say that I have learned lots about myself and about God through these wonderful years homeschooling the cute baby you see here! Now, as we near the end of that leg of the journey, I find myself drifting to other thoughts, deeper reflections on what it means to be a child of God, a fellow Traveler with so many wonderful people, and an obedient servant and disciple of the One who called me to this path in the first place. I make no promises that I will follow any systematic outline of the Christlife - these are to be the musings of a traveller: daily dealing with the hazards of the road, the vagaries of weather and the challenge of uninvited traveling partners, and the comfort of those familiar, known and predictable. I will be traveling hill and dale, marsh, desert, pine-scented forests and refreshing mountain streams. Moods may swing when storm clouds gather, shoes wear out, or packs seem to heavy; when socks itch, birds sing, and food is scarce or plentiful. I am just a fellow traveler. You cannot see my warts, blisters or bruises (trust me, they're there), and I don't have much to give, but I will share with you what I have, what I find, and we will journey together to the City set on a Hill. Welcome.