It has been another busy week.
Mouth:
The holistic/biological dentist from the neighboring state had me visit my regular local dentist to see if there was something else going on. The regular dentist was kind, but since cavitation surgery is not taught in dental school, he was very resistant to everything I have learned about the mouth from my current functional medicine doctor and from the holistic/biological dentist. [Side note: I am used to resistance from just about every conventional medical practitioner since I have had to resort to unconventional treatments over the last 20 years, but the resistance is exhausting. Good thing I have a strong inner core and don’t give a shit about what they think anymore. If they think they know so much, then maybe they could have helped me before now.] My regular dentist did not find anything, so he believes that my body is just having a hard time healing and has residual inflammation and nerve irritation. He prescribed steroids. My functional medicine doctor is not recommending steroids at this time due to my body’s reactions to certain medications, so I am waiting to see how things go and if the pain gets worse or the infection returns.
The holistic/biological dentist also had me see an ENT to make sure there was nothing else going on with my sinuses and ears. We called in a favor from my former Naturopath, and he got us an appointment with a local ENT within 2 days. I am so grateful for the relationship we have with my former Naturopath. He is such a great person and still cares about us, and feeling cared for goes a long way. The ENT took a look and did some scans to determine that nothing else was going on with my sinuses and ears. This ENT was one of the kindest conventional medical practitioners I have seen in a long time, so that was refreshing.
So, for now, we are waiting and seeing about the mouth. I already knew that I need to go see an orthodontist about my bite problems. I didn’t need braces as a teenager. However, I received some bad information from a former dentist, and now I need to fix my bite that has worsened over the years due to a poorly functioning mouth guard. The holistic/biological dentist, regular dentist, and ENT all recommend doing that soon. Just add it to the list. [Side note: The ENT’s daughter had the same thing happen to her. She had some bad dental advice, a bad mouth guard, and then also developed bite problems, so he was very helpful and guessed what had happened to my bite before I even said anything.]
Moving Out:
We have moved out of our house and into my parents’ house for the next 3-4 weeks (if all goes as planned). My parents are out of town, and they are allowing us to use their house while our house has work done to it. We don’t have much mold in our house, so we are having to guess at which items (if any) will help make our home more conducive to my healing. We may have this work done, and then we may find out that we didn’t need to do it at all and/or that we need to get more work done. It is real fun! We are super grateful to my parents for allowing us to use their house while this work is being completed. It is such a relief to not have to worry about where we are going to stay. (BTW, we had to remove everything from the primary bedroom closet in our home since one attic entrance is there. The picture below is what our bed looks like right now. 🤣)
More:
While the mouth situation has been happening, my functional medicine chiropractor told me to try to keep making progress on the other areas of my health journey. So, I have been slowing adding in treatment for SIBO as my body would allow. I have had so many starts and stops to this part since I began this step in late April. However, I am finally on the full dose of treatment for SIBO. As of right now, I will be completing 30 days of treatment for SIBO, and then moving onto the next step.
Here is a reminder of the tentative plan:
1) Get body as prepared as possible for treatment (support organs that are struggling the most)
2) Treat the following–
a) Bacteria: SIBO, Lyme, Bartonella
b) Mycoplasma
c) Mold toxicity
d) Heavy Metal toxicity (Thallium)
e) Yeast
f) Viruses (Epstein-Barr Virus, etc.)
3) Determine which body systems have improved from original test results and which need more attention, and then treat the remaining items that are abnormal in my lab results. (We won’t know the extent of this until possibly years from now.)
Based on how my body has been responding to treatment and my need for regular IV iron infusions, my doctor has added an additional piece to the treatment plan after the SIBO treatment.
Here is an update (yellow = current step; green = additional treatment added to the treatment plan by doctor):
1) Get body as prepared as possible for treatment (support organs that are struggling the most)
2) Treat the following–
a) Bacteria/Parasites: SIBO, Babesia (parasite), Lyme, Bartonella
b) Mycoplasma
c) Mold toxicity
d) Heavy Metal toxicity (Thallium)
e) Yeast
f) Viruses (Epstein-Barr Virus, etc.)
3) Determine which body systems have improved from original test results and which need more attention, and then treat the remaining items that are abnormal in my lab results. (We won’t know the extent of this until possibly years from now.)
You may remember that Babesia is a common co-infection of Lyme Disease, so this additional step is not surprising to me.
That is all I have for now. Thank you to those of you who have reached out in support of me/us recently. Your kindness is always noticed and appreciated!
Brutal. So many unknowns. Waiting and seeing. Physical pain. Resistance from the regular dentist.
Beautiful. Kindness and/or love from the holistic/biological dentist, my former Naturopath, the current ENT, my current functional medicine chiropractor, our therapist, my parents, family, and all of my supportive people. So much gratitude!
Just another day of . . . This Brutiful Life: The Brutal & Beautiful Moments of My Life.
This Brutiful Life 