Health is Freedom

(I wrote this in response to a request from the Health Care debate people for "health care stories". Many friends have liked it , so I sent it to you.)

Well, my story is somewhat unusual; however it is a story very worth telling, not for the drama of it, but for precisely the opposite: the NON drama, and the UNBELIEVABLE COST EFFECTIVENESS of it.
My childhood was normal for the time: born in a hospital to an anesthetized mother, vaccinated with smallpox and DPT, and later polio; occasional antibiotics; tonsillectomy at 5 for recurrent earaches; healthy, active child.

At 29, for 'no apparent reason' my low back went into acute and painful spasm, rendering me motionless or howling with pain. My MD, whom I respected - - he was already recommending meditation to people in 1975 - - said upon hearing my desparate need , "Stay in bed for three weeks and call me if it still hurts." I was a dedicated teacher, it was May, I wasn't about to lie down for 3 of the remaining 6 weeks of the school year. I got acupressure: 5% amelioration. I got acupuncture: 10% amelioration, but temporary. I got carried into a chiropractor's office (chiropractor was a Harvard Alum) and walked out. I didn't BOUNCE out, but I walked out on my own.

So the question came up then and there for the first time: Dr. Matt said stay in bed etc., Dr Bruce puts his hands here and there and I'm functional. What's going on here?

Fast forward. Two years later, living in Alaska, I developed a bad throat. We wentto the lab to have a culture - - this is what you do if you have a bad throat, right? Well, by time the culture results came back 3 days later, I was well on the way to well. (The culture was positive for strep)

So the question comes: if you have strep you take antibiotics, right? Not right. hmmm…..what’s going on here?

Fast forward: the next year I started Chiropractic College; most of the way through, I had our daughter. Altough I was 35 (and therefore 'high risk'), I birthed her at home in 6 hours. Again, the question: what's going on here? This is supposed to be so dangerous…...

Then came the issue of vaccination. Since I was by now in the habit of of questioning the dominant paradigm's thinking, I asked myself this: what does foreign protein inocculated directly into the bloodstream DO??? The answer came loud and clear: WE CAN'T POSSIBLY KNOW. Then the question: WHAT COULD WE DO IF OUR BABY ACTUALLY GOT ONE OF THE DISEASES AGAINST WHICH THE VACCINATIONS SUPPOSEDLY PROTECT? And so, I began to read and research; my search kept leading me back to Homeopathy! What IS this homeopathy? Hmmmm! Seems Homeopathy has successfully treated those epidemics for which vaccinations are designed WITH HUGE SUCCESS RATES - - we're talking 8 or 10 times the effectiveness of traditional medical treatment - - for 200 years! It's in hospital records; it's in state public health records. It's in the records; you can find it if you care to look. Hmmmmm..... what's going on here?

Okay, let's try it....let's not give her the shots, find a homeopathic physician, and if she gets sick we'll try that. Meanwhile, two nieces of mine were in the process of managing seizure disorder after vaccinations.... cause/effect? coinkidink?

Five weeks after our daughter was born, I developed a mastitis, very rapid high fever, red hardened breast, prostration. A friend from Germany had a homeopathic remedy for such a case, and put 5 drops of it into my mouth. Within SECONDS I felt an internal shift and knew I was getting well. Fever dropped from 104 to 99 within 30 minutes, my energy was back. That's NOT what the books say will happen with mastitis. Again, the question: what's going on here?

I'd bee
READING homeopathy, had found a homeopath for Sarah, but this was my own personal firsthand experience of it, and I was, frankly, astounded. How can this be TRUE (which my first-hand experience told me it was) and NOT KNOWN???? I was at that point a convinced skeptic: okay, show me. I was in no way invested in one thing being true.

In my chiro practice. I was able to help a lot of people, but felt frustrated by what seemed/felt like an underlying etiology, likely an emotional one, said my intellect. Why did some people need the same adjustment each time they came?

So along came painful divorce, consequent emotional upset, and after 3 years, a strange gastrointestinal problem which lost me 30 lbs and most of my energy. All medical tests were negative. A friend was learning a certain form of hands-on healing work, specifically effective with emotionally based situations and gave me a session. I had an experience of emotional release accompanied by deep insight, and the next morning my bowel function was normal for the first time in 3 months. Just like that. hmmmm!!! what's going on here????

So I learned this therapy, Kairos Therapy, and began adding it to my chiro patients. Outcome: people got better. REally better. Needed fewer adjustments. Reported deep changes in their lives. Stopped coming. Bad for business? Good for job satisfaction. And they sent more and more so, not bad for business.
Hmmmmm.... what's going on here?

Fast forward: I am immersed in these non-drug, non-surgical ways of getting people healthy, and from where I sit, most of western medicine seems like using cannons to shoot mosquitos. So much time, energy, money, suffering could be saved working in this subtle, preventive way that it boggles the mind. Because people get empowered in their lives, they get well and stay well. they don't WANT drugs, and in fact don't need them. They take responsibility for their health, and they stay healthy because the underlying predispositions have been removed.

I am happy. I am not rich in the monetary sense, but I have plenty. And the soul-equity I have is immense. My children and I are healthy, free of chronic disease; I have assisted so many people in getting really well; I am 63 and people mistake me for late 40's. (For perspective, my father died of a heart attack at 39, my older brother of a heart attack at 37, my older sister of cancer at 45; coinkidink? I think the difference in my story is cause/effect of my health-care choices. )

I am grateful for that back pain; for that divorce; for that spastic bowel; they gave me the opportunity to keep asking: hmmmm, what's going on here? I'm not saying everyone wants to pursue the course I've chosen; I'm saying they deserve the choice. They deserve accurate information on effects of the present system, alongside effects of other systems. An educated public is, indeed, bad for business. And it is, nevertheless, a requisite of a democratic system. And I think that FUNDERS of Health Care, whether it be Medicare or Cigna et al, deserve to know - - their actuaries deserve to know - - the reality of ‘real’ medicine (not drug medicine).

So perhaps I've strayed just a tad. Do I know people who don't have insurance coverage? YES I DO!!! I DON'T HAVE COVERAGE!!!! But not because I can't afford it (I don't think I could, actually, but that's not the point) I DON'T HAVE COVERAGE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW OF A 'PRODUCT' (the fact that we refer to Health Care "Products" sort of says it all....) THAT INTERESTS ME. Because the stranglehold of pharma-medicine on the insurance companies is complete. Were they to give such medicine as kairos and Homeopathy equal opportunity for reimbursement, FREE OF MEDICAL DOCTORS’ ‘PERMISSION’, if they were to give them a chance - - a REAL chance - - they would find themselves spending so much less money.
Hm.... what's going on here?????
Has the Health Care system failed me? Uh, YEAH!!!! I don’t even have a relationship with them. I would call that a failure, wouldn’t you?

So, you wanted a story????? That's my story. And I'm sticking to it. Let us hold the picture of my Dutch ancestors’ descendants’ health care system as a VERY PRACTICAL MODEL TO FOLLOW. Let us breathe love into the fear that drives our health care system.

Jan Dederickr
El Cerrito, CA 94530rnjandeder@netwiz.net