Cancellation~ Due to Illness; Some Thoughts on a Seminar that Won’t Happen

Sometimes illness gets in the way and derails our best-laid plans. Last Tuesday this is just what happened to me. When I woke up with a wet and crusty eye, I realized that I might have contracted the dreaded, highly contagious Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis), which, along with Strep Throat (Streptococcus pharyngitis), had been going around my classroom for the past month. During January, a total of six children, one third of my class, were absent each for most of a week.

A Pink Eye which turned out to be…

I have had Pink Eye before and I remember its itchy and burning discomfort along with the ugly pink eye color.   So to be proactive, on Tuesday morning I immediately notified our secretary that I would be taking the afternoon off to run over to our clinic (SHAPE Healthcare Facility), get checked out by the local physician and then if necessary, pick up some eye drops. Although this was my simple plan, what I didn’t expect was that over the course of next three hours my actual condition would go from one eye that was slightly red and irritated to two eyes becoming increasingly inflamed with oozing, green puss.   I kid you not, in just over the course of three hours, as I was working in the classroom until my appointment time arrived, not fully realizing that I had an eye disease until one of the children I was working with asked, “ what’s that green stuff coming out of your eyes?” And by the time I made it to the clinic, at 1300, all I had to do was take off my sunglasses to get attention from the clinic staff. It is said, “a picture tells a thousand words” and this image of my then distorted eyes and face spoke multitudes! My eyes were almost completely swollen closed; I had major visible swelling on my upper face from my additionally infected sinuses, and there was active green goop draining out of my eyes, coating my eyelashes and cheeks. Utterly grotesque!

So why, you may be asking yourself at this very moment, have I not spared you the grisly details? It’s to impress upon the reader, the magnitude of how a contagious, a yet otherwise seemingly innocuous illness, a fairly common disease, can take over and wreak havoc in such a short period of time. It’s to bring to light our humanity and fragility in the face of such a disease. And it’s because I believe in how important it is to remind ourselves that as mere mortals we can get very sick, even sickeningly healthy people like me.

…Viral Conjunctivitis with secondary Sinusitis!

On Tuesday afternoon, the on-duty doc would only prescribe me antibiotic eye drops and ointment. Back at the clinic on Wednesday morning, with a deteriorated condition, the same on-duty doctor then prescribed me an oral antibiotic. While waiting at the pharmacy, in a stroke of luck, I met SHAPE’s Optometrist, and he had me follow him to his office. So along with a diagnosis of Viral Conjunctivitis with secondary Sinusitis, I now had anti viral drops, an antihistamine (so to bring down the inflammation) and oral antibiotics entered into my arsenal. And it was then that I started to really heal.

So for a natural health enthusiast (myself) who understands the dangers and side effects from the routine use of seemingly harmless drugs like aspirin or Tylenol, I am not one to endorse them and I will suffer out a headache so to avoid these drugs. For headaches and other aches and pains, I use and endorse a multitude of other more natural remedies at our disposal. In general I find natural remedies to be cheaper, definitely safer (when used correctly) and oftentimes more effective than pharmaceuticals.

Proceed with Caution!~

Prescription drug use can be downright dangerous! Aside from the Opioid Crisis as we know it in the US, where drug overdoses have skyrocketed to epidemic proportions, a June 2014 article published in Harvard University’s Edward J Saffra Center for Ethics, states, “about 328,000 patients in the U.S. and Europe die from prescription drugs each year.” (1) A September 2016, US News and World Report article states that a “more recent analysis estimates 128,000 Americans die each year as a result of taking medications as prescribed – or nearly five times the number of people killed by overdosing on prescription painkillers and heroin. “ (2).

So for someone like myself who researches natural health remedies, who uses them in lieu of taking pharmaceutical drugs, and who clearly understands the statistics and finding from key studies and research, on the negative side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, there is another important point I have come to believe based on my life experience. That is, only very occasionally when very really needed, I wholeheartedly embrace emergency medicine with it’s arsenal of drugs which can be a lifesaver.

I sometimes find that the simple-minded opposition between responsible pharmaceutical medicine on one hand and functional medicine on the other hand is not warranted and can be self defeating. Antibiotics can be a lifesaver, but should never be used as a quick fix and only be used when absolutely necessary. The on-duty doc who did not prescribe antibiotics to me on Tuesday was being prudent, and I respect him for that. Although, clearly when he saw that I needed these on Wednesday, he did not hesitate to prescribe them.

There is a more generalized conclusion that one can draw from these reflections and that is as an increasing number of research reflects; it is precisely the abuse of antibiotics and other drugs that reduce their effectiveness. It is exactly this over prescribing of antibiotics (along with the use of antibiotic feed in animal factory farms (CAFOs) – another story for another blog entry) that have gotten us into the dangerous situation of globalized reduced effectiveness of these drugs. For now, I am only so grateful that mine are working this time.

*** Due to my illness, I have decided to Cancel my H&W seminar, scheduled for Wednesday, 7 February 2018,

Instead I will be presenting: Weight Loss and Management, Naturally

on Wednesday 21 February, @ 18:00.

SHAPE Healthcare Facility, 2^nd Floor Conference Room

I hope to see you all there.

Until then…

À vôtre santé

Alyce Childers

1. https://ethics.harvard.edu/blog/new-prescription-drugs-major-health-risk-few-offsetting-advantages.
2. https://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2016-09-27/the-danger-in-taking-prescribed-medications

Important note:

For your protection, please always consult with a knowledgeable healthcare professional regarding any health issue (including stress and or anxiety). Neither this blog nor my seminars are meant to either diagnose or treat any medical disorder.