A more complete health care system
Posted on January, 20, 2012
Last week, I got really sick. Not that little, “I’ve got a cough bug;” I had an infection in my gums. It made my face swollen, gums enlarge, made my face hurt from my mandible to my eye ball, it gave me a fever with chills and hot flashes. A strange and unusual trip for me. Rarely, do I let something get the better of my immune system. My gums in the upper left side of my mouth got infected. It started out as an irritated gum turned tooth sensitivity turned pain when chewing turned throbbing pain on the side of my face turned swollen left cheek.
I came home from teaching at UNF on Tuesday evening. I was shaking, sweating from heat and then shivering from cold. I had developed a fever either, due to, or, in conjunction with, the infection. Tehila was really scared, and I felt bad because she was dealing with Tahgel (Our 3-month-old baby).
The evening before, I was at Valerie Herrmann and Eli Bajalia’s house – true and dedicated healers to our planet. Check the link and see what I mean. They gave me some teas and herbs that would eventually help me. Being so sick, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I went on a steady diet of their herbs (read: medicine) to bring me back to optimal health.
Today, I feel amazing. Probably 97% better and getting stronger by the minute. And this evening, as I’m washing the dishes, I begin to think about our medical/insurance situation. We have no insurance and a new baby. I was nearly in a situation where I needed Western medical attention, and I’m mentally debating the cost of going to see a doctor. If it were an abscess tooth and NEEDED surgery, how could I afford to pay that AND pay rent, car insurance, and other bills? It would have cost me a couple hundred even if it were something minor, and if it had been something major, it would have crippled us, financially.
And then I became really thankful for having Val and Eli in my life and that I’m part of an incredible healing community…which got me thinking: Why don’t we support these kinds of people, financially? They are filled with knowledge and have a desire to help people. They would ask so much less than what are current medical system demands. There are legitimate healers in our community. We need to get away from the drugs and rapid diagnoses of our current medical system. There is a more complete picture than we’re being told. We should be supporting those people in our community who are holding open the pipelines of communication and health.
And to take it one step further, why don’t we actively work to become healers in our community too by taking courses, coming to meditations, attending workshops, signing up for classes that inspire us? Then we would be able to participate in the healing of our community. Find something that excites you, in terms of being a healer for our community, and make it happen.
Together, we can heal one another. Hope to see everyone at the kula, making better versions of themselves.
Thank You Brother. I’m glad you are well.
Wow, Keith ~ amazing! And you looked totally fine at the potluck……quite a testament to your herbs, eh? Care to share what they were? But for the future, be mindful of swelling like that, you don’t want infection to migrate up to your brain and eyes, ya know? There’s always Solantic clinics for true emergencies…. I totally agree w/ you about our ridiculous health care system!