Just caught up on the blogging which was entertaining to read so thought I would put my two pennies in. As winter has definately arrived so has a few colds. Our mentor, Diane, has helped me definately think deeper about health, namely modern medicine and its quick remedy 'fixes'. Maryanne is sick and I hope she gets better, Marisol has just been sick which was not pleasant and as all of us are frolic girls who love our yummy food and all that comes with it, when one gets sick, we all feel it.
Current practises seem to follow the following scenario:
Girl gets runny nose, girl feels sick, girl calls in work and sleeps, maybe girl goes to doctor immediately or maybe girl waits for a day and still not feeling better girl goes to doctor. doctor prescribes drugs which will 'make the infection disapear', girl goes home and takes pills and goes to sleep. wakes up feeling better and thinks,' wow that was awful glad I feel better'. girl gets on with life and thinks nothing more of it.
We are not in the practise of a) questioning or understanding why we get sick and also with everyone busy busy busy we are too busy to let the body run its course of the illness and simply wish to take a pill, get better and forget about it. Surely if you let the body struggle a little with the illness then the body will have to create anti bodies to fight infection hence creating a stronger immune system. Especially with babies there is the temptation to whisk them off to the doctor to give them some kind of baby paracetamol or something of that nature. I know having had Marisol feeling poorly I was very tempted to go to the doctor because they know best, yes? What are all those years of training for? Yes they know a hell of a lot more than me but do they know how healthy Marisol will be if she does not take anything but lets her body fight it off so that when she is a strapping lass of 20 she can wrestle with the lions and not have to worry about the scratches and burns?
- Alice
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3 comments:
alice, i understand and agree with what you're saying for the most part. however i feel that you're failing to see the other side of it. i'm sure said "girl" would love to take a week off work and spend time laying on the couch drinking tea and watching lifetime until her illness runs its course and her body fights it off completely. i'm also sure her boss would NOT love it and she might not have a job any longer after doing that. point being that a lot of us don't have the luxury of letting our body completely fight things off. yes we're all very very very busy and you make it sound like a bad thing but a lot of us don't have the choice not to be busy. i know from experience when i'm sick i can't find anyone to cover my work shifts. in fact *I* am always the one covering everyone else's shifts when they can't make it to work, and there's nobody left to do me that favour when i need it. diane can let you know how many times i've been forced to go to work while sick, therefor not getting enough rest and not letting my body completely fight it off. unfortunately i just don't have a choice. she can also let you know that i am usually forced to take medicine (even if it's just over-the-counter nyquill) because i'll end up being so sick for such a long time that all the vitamins and herbs in the world just aren't working anymore and i need to feel better in order to keep going to work.
i'm not trying to be mean but i want you to know how lucky you are to have the luxury to stay home with marisol. count your blessings and understand how good you've got it because most of us don't have that luxury. we're not bad people just because we sometimes go to doctors. we're just doing what we gotta do.
- miriam aka tovi aka devil's advocate
LUCKY to stay home with marisol when you are sick!!! Tovi, please wait to be a mother and feel what it is like to be miserable and sick and still have a baby who demands everything from you. no sitting on the couch and no waiting for a week to get better, well yes waiting for a week but having to get on with 'work' whether that be paid or not.
perhaps if we lived in a community where there were people around you all the day and your mother or mother in law can help you so you can sit on a couch if only for a day then it would be grand.
is the idea not to take vitamins and herbs so that next time your body is stronger so that next time you will either not get sick or it will be easier to get better?????
Diane here, weighing in on the discussion.
To answer your question Alice, YES! The point is to take herbs and remedies and eat the right food, and learn to take care of ourselves properly so that we don't get sick. Then we can go to work or stay home and run a household and have a bit of time left for tea.
I have just spent a few days feeling poorly, and now that I feel better, there is a lot of work to be done from the days I didn't do much. Do I have the strenght to do it all? Defniltey not. Does it all have to get done? No, not all.
I think one of the major differences is how the work we do is valued. When you have a job, you are rewarded monetarily for your work. You get to look cute, leave the house, and see the world. You interact with others and see others working.
Being at home, you are not valued by the very people you are working for...your family! It is taken for granted that dinner will be cooked, the towels will be laundered, folded, and put away, the mail will be sorted, the groceries will be bought and put away, the garbage and recycling out, the dishwasher emptied, and the house warm and cozy and welcoming for those who go out to work. There is not a thought of the family doing these things for YOU. Everything is always done for THEM.
How many times has a Mom been sick in bed without anyone checking on her if she needs water, tea, or fresh tissues? And the whole time she remembers what she has done for the family. How about 5 kids with chicken pox, one after the other....I think that was 6 weeks of sickness.
As you all know, I volunteer with a group organizing farm deliveries. That work is rewarding as people actually thank me for what I do, and express their appreciation. I expect if I got to leave the house, get paid, and have dinner waiting for me at home at the end of the day, I would want to take medicine in order to get there, rather than droop around the house, sick.
Either way, being sick is no fun. All we can do is learn from our illness, and work harder so we don't get sick again. And have compassion for each other.
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