Alternative Lifestyle
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Why didn’t anyone tell me that yesterday was daylight saving time in Denmark?
Normally I always remember these things. But yesterday I didn’t. And of course yesterday was the first time in as long as I can remember that my mother did not decide to remind me. Normally she’ll mention it to me “don’t forget to set clock back/forward”. And I’ll roll my eyes and say “duh mum, I’m not a total spazz”. But yesterday I was. I should have suspected something when I got up around 8 (or so I thought) and then a little later I was sitting at the computer and it was 10 o’clock. i thought to mysself I thought “I haven’t been up for two hours have I?”. But I chalked it up to morning tiredness and blindness. And then later that day I was getting ready to go to my parents’ for dinner and I thought I had more than an hour. Then I looked at the computer clock and realized I had less than 10 minutes. Oops. Good thing the computer auomatically updates the clock. Otherwise I would’ve been late for dinner.
We had fish. I think that might be the first time I have ever been invited over for fish. And there is a reason for that. We hate fish. No no, I mean there is a reason that I was invited over for fish. And it has to do with that new development I have been mentioning.
A couple of days ago my dad came over with a piece of paper he wanted me to look at. It was about alternative medicine. Yes. That surprised me a lot. My dad is very down to earth and skeotical of these things. At least that’s the image I had of him. And as he said the other day, 20 years ago he never would have thought he’d be talking about those sort of things. But you remember uncle Jens, my dad’s brother? He went through that cancer thing. And apparently he had some help from alternative medicine. Not saying it cured him of cancer, but he felt it helped. And he has an ex-colleague that he has known for 20 years or more who is doing that kind of thing. alternative healingmajig. I’m not sure exactly what. But anyway, I guess my dad and Jens have been talking about it all. And Jens has been giving some advice. And that was what was on that piece of paper.
Not all of it was really alternative in any way. There was some diet advice. Cut the soda, even the sugarfree. I have done that. Only had a mouthful of sugarfree Fanta in the last 4-5 days. And there was something about vegetables. And fish. I knew fish was good, I’m just not good at cooking fish at all. And thereby we are back to the beginning of the tale. Eating fish with the parents. We are going to be doing that once a week or so from now on. In an effort to get me the fatty fishes that I need. Also my dad is deboning mackerels for me. I used to like smoked mackerels to put on bread. But I never liked getting the bones out. And with my vision worse and worse that wasn’t really an option anymore. But my dad is doing it now. Buying mackerels, getting the bones out, bringing them over to my apartment. He is so much help, no doubt about that.
Carrots should be one of the best things for you too, and I have been eating plenty of those. Getting back on the exercise bike. I’m really trying to do an effort to get back to better living after being so down for so long. Not that I’m not down about my eyesight anymore. But at least I’m not letting it ruin everything.
Another thing on the list was cranberry juice. I didn’t think I’d like that, but it’s actually okay. I mix it up with carbonated mineral water and that has replaced cola for me now. So that’s alrite. It’s odd not drinking any cola anymore, though. I can’t remember a life without cola. But it hasn’t been too bad so far.
Also on the list were some “German eyedrops” that supposedly relax something in your eyes and help. I’m waiting to find out what exactly they are, because I don’t want to start taking medication without checking with the regular eye docs.
But all in all that was mostly standard and good advice. There was one more thing though. Acupuncture. Jens’s friend has reccomended an acupuncturist. Who claims to be able to help with sight problems amongst other things. I still have not decided if I want to try that. I am skeptical at nature. They do claim to get good results with a lot of people. It does seem that acupuncture can accomplish things. But how much is in the head of the patient? If I don’t really believe in it, is it going to work then?
I am still considering the pros and cons. Going to do some internet research on the acupuncturist in question. And think. What do I have to lose? If it actually helps my eyesight then that would be a really, really good thing. And it’s not like it can hurt. On the other hand, if I try it and it doesn’t work then it would be very disappointing. I’m not sure how well I would cope with disappointment these days. And there are other issues. The clinic is fairly far away. More than 2 hours by train. So that would be more than 4 hours of transport. And you need 2 treatments for 10 days. Monday to Friday then weekend pause then Monday to Friday. A treatment is about half an hour and then you have to wait an hour until the next one. So it would add up to some 6-7-8 hours every day. And to me that is a lot. A lot. Traveling, being away from home, strange people, strange things. I do not like the thought of that. Uncle Jens has said that he might come and stay with my parents for those two weeks and then he could drive us in his car. That would be an awesome help. And if he can’t drive me every day then my dad will come with me on the train. Again, everyone is so nice and helpful. My dad has even offered to pay for it all. Including transportation it would probably be around 10,000 Danish Kroners. Something like 1800 Dollars. He’s been saving up for a makeup Greenland trip so I could get to go there after missing the family trip. Doesn’t look like that will be happening. I’m not going to want to go while my sight is so bad, I’m just not. So the money could go to this instead. It’s incredibly sweet and generous of my dad. And everyobody is urging me to say yes. And as fast as possible. But do I want to spend all that time and energy and money on something I’m not sure I believe in?
I want my eyesight to be better.
I don’t know. I’ll read the papers the acupuncturist sent my dad. I’ll look on the net. I’ll think. They want me to say yes as fast as possible. I’m thinking I might want to wait until after the cataracts operation and the last laser treatments. Maybe say no to the acupuncture if that stuff works, maybe say yes if it doesn’t work and my eyesight gets even worse.
I don’t know, I don’t know. I have a lot of thinking to do obviously. I should come up with an answer in a couple of days or so. Even if the answer is that I want to wait before I decide.
We’ll see.
I took my dad’s piece of paper with me to the doctor when I got my test results. He looked it over. Thumbs up to the diet stuff. He couldn’t say one way or the other about the eyedrops and the acupuncture because he didn’t really have any experience with that. He didn’t say anything against it though.
Any thoughts, opinions, advice, experiences etc you want to share would be most welcome.
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3 Responses to “Alternative Lifestyle”
1. Debster Says:
March 31st, 2009 at 0:51
Hay, hay! Sounds like you’ve got some options. That’s great! All the diet stuff sounds great and will help you and your parents to be healthier regardless.
I’ve not had any direct experience with acupuncture, but my sister had some treatments done when she was having some major back problems. She seemed to think they helped her and she didn’t have any bad reactions to the treatments.
She was in so much pain with her back, that she was ready to try anything. If your regular doctor doesn’t have anything bad to say about any of the alternative medicines, you might give it a try.
Yes, the acupuncture may not help. But on the other hand, it might. At least you have some options now and you can either try them or not try them.
I am so glad to hear how supportive your family is for you. I’m so relieved, if fact that you are not doing this all on your own. I know you want to and you don’t want to be a burden on anyone, but there comes a time in just about everyone’s life when one must depend on someone else.
You are very good at helping other people (like visitors to the playground, the lady and the bus schedule, etc.), but the other side of that is being able to graciously accept help from others. Think of it as you’re doing them a favor by letting them help you.
You sound so much more upbeat and hopeful regardless of what happens. I’m still pulling for you to get better.
This is also a second chance for you to get to know your parents and uncle as an adult and to maybe make some positive changes in your relationships with them. And it sounds like that is already happening for you.
2. Katrine Says:
March 31st, 2009 at 8:27
Hey!
It must be so good for your parents to be able to do *something*, to feel that they can help you a bit :) The dietary changes sounds like the things all of us would benefit from, I’m sure it will bring good things!
About getting enough omega3-acids or what ever it was they recommended, I don’t think fish once a week is quite enough to fulfill the body’s need, so maybe you should consider a dietary supplement as well? Do you have “tran” in Denmark? (yeah, it tasted le horrible back in the days, but now you can buy these capsules that doesn’t taste a thing now, like these: http://www.mollers.no/c-21-M%C3%B6ller%E2%80%99s-Dobbel.aspx)
I know that my mum, biggest sceptic in the world, got help for back problems using acupuncture. But as far as I understand, acupuncture is about stimulating nerves to make muscels behave in certain ways (relax/contract/release tension), and I must say that I don’t understand how that will work on your eyes. But I may be wrong, t’s just a novel idea to me. Do your reasearch and let us know what you find.
3. Plume Says:
April 1st, 2009 at 17:15
Katrine – I’m sure they’re glad they can help, and I’m sure glad they can too.
I’ll be eating fish more than once a week since my dad will be bringing me the mackerels.. those are supposed to be really good. And I’ll eat them pretty much every day. So hopefully that’ll cover my needs.
Without going into too much details, this particular form of acupuncture does something that is supposed to break down some blockades in the body and that allows some chemicals to be released and get to the eyes.. or something. That’s my very unprofessional retelling of it.
Debster – I’m desperate enough to try the acupuncture, so hopefully it will help. It can’t hurt to try anyway.
I’m happy that my family is so helpful. I’m very lucky to have them. No doubt that helps our relationship a lot too. I feel a lot closer to them by now.