This morning I visited a wonderful new addition to my health care, a chiropractor in Manchester, Vt., who has, in several weeks, eliminated the soreness and arch issues that have been causing me some discomfort for much of my life, as far back as my teens. She also eliminated the shoulder and elbow pain I was feeling from hauling my 50 lbs of camera and lenses  around all day for years. She supports my ideas about health, and talks to me about my health, and  I enjoy knowing her as much as I appreciate feeling good. I see how much of health is preventive and attitudinal, and how little conventional health care often has to do with health.

I’ve always had some foot issues, and a  dozen years ago, an orthopedic surgeon urged me to undergo foot surgery that would have broken 17 different bones in each foot and replaced many of them with metal screws. I declined. A few years ago, a doctor told me I ought to go on diabetes medication for the rest of my life, and he said I could not control this with diet and exercise and lifestyle choices.  Another doctor prescribed  Lipitor as a preventive against high cholesterol. And another urged me to consider experimental prostate cancer medication – he said I might grow breasts – because, he said, “you don’t want to die that way.” Yet another physician urged me to consider blood pressure medication, as my blood pressure was sometimes a little higher than he liked to see. A medicating psychiatrist told me that since anxiety was prevalent in my family, I needed medication to control it, and he urged me to continue taking the sleeping medication I had been taking for 30 years.  These doctors were making me feel sick and unhealthy. Why else would I need all these medications? And tests? And visits?

I decided to change my health care a few years ago, and I have. I am on no medications other than vitamins. I am healthy and feeling healthier, even as I hear so many people around me talk to me about their doctors, medications, ailments. I see a spiritual counselor, who has helped me to meditate, sleep and listen to myself when it comes to health, and not only others. I am seeing a naturopath who is working with me on nutrition to maintain my health and energy, and that has also been very successful for me. I understand that anxiety and anger are just as lethal as many diseases and peace and fulfillment among the best drugs on earth.  I am no Superman, and I have my share of aches and pains. My massage therapist has helped me with those.  I am just beginning to feel healthy, and the further I get from conventional medicine, the healthier I feel. All of these doctors were wrong, and they were all didactic and absolute in their declarations and prescriptions – all of which involved pills and money.

I know there are many good doctors in conventional medicine, and I know that medicine is sometimes effective. But I am very happy with my sense of taking back my health, and my health care. Only four or five percent of Americans seek alternative ideas in health care, and I understand why.  Medicine is a fear machine in many ways, frightening us with the idea that we might die or suffer great harm if we don’t test and medicate ourselves and submit to complex procedures.  I can’t speak for anyone else, or tell anyone else what to do – nor do I wish to – but that has not been true for me. The system I encountered was irrational, greedy and dysfunctional and for me, the path to health has been frightening and challenging, but I am more comfortable with it every day.

I am active in preventive care, aware of my body, feeling strong and clear. I cannot say how much I love being free of medications, or how good that  feels. If it shortens my life in some way, good deal for me. I don’t want to live forever.

For me, it is a Leap Of Faith. Understanding body and soul. Trusting my own instincts. Living a self-determined life.

Oh yeah, I’ve added a Tarot Card Reader and an Animal Communicator to the team. I think I will live a long time.