Learn how to let your light shine.



 

 
           
I am one of those lucky people who has a story to tell about everything. Some look at mild disasters or hardships as "Why me?" I just keep thinking, "Thank God, I survived another one," and trust in the Yin Yang theory. Whenever something "horrible" happens they believe something really wonderful will happen and they say, "I wonder what wonderful thing will happen as a result of this!"
           
This morning's tooth extraction was supposed to be a "simple" one. Of course, that's what they all say. I was hoping they were right. I kept imagining the tooth coming out easily while the dentist was tugging, slowly but firmly. He pulled on my tooth for what seemed like 2 hours, probably more like 30 minutes, before it finally came out. What looked like a conical, single root turned out to be 3 roots intertwined. Mercy, he worked hard !
             
While he was taking my top left wisdom tooth out, he broke the already fractured tooth beside it and had to make an emergency repair mid-extraction. All this was after a couple of hours drilling to prepare the right top for bridge work. Hey, at least it is all behind me. Now all I have to do is pay the bill:)
             
I am taking it easy. I learned from the last extraction what NOT to do after a tooth extraction. This time I am doing exactly what I should do-because they took the time to tell me, very carefully what to do. I have the water running to take a lovely bath and I found a quarter of a Vicadin I had left over from after Red died that I plan on taking. Hey, I am a Natural Health Care Advocate, not a purist. Pain medicine was invented to help us relax while healing...besides, I think it will help me sleep too.

1-The gauze they put in needs to be replaced every 45 minutes or so until it comes out pink in color-not red. If you dampen the gauze before you put it in, it doesn't stick to the clot you are trying to form where the hole from the tooth is. Last time, I kept ripping out the clot and caused it to bleed forever. My new dentist in Chiefland took a great deal of time in post-extraction instructions.

2-Taking it easy is KEY, at least for me. Last time I had to do a health seminar the following day and did yoga and energy exercises all day long while entertaining the crowd. My circulation was working over time and I kept "blowing out" the clot. That won't happen this time!

3-Once the red gauze turns to pink gauze, the bleeding has slowed enough to swish GENTLY with room temperature water and salt, 1/4tsp salt to 4oz of water-and DON'T spit the salt water out as that will cause suction pull the clot out- hot water would increase circulation so cool is best.

4-Ice for 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off-during that 20 minutes "not on" I am using my cool laser to speed up the healing. It is helping with the pain too

5-I have a bottle of colloidal silver to spray in my mouth occasionally, it has been used for 100s of years as a natural antibiotic. I know I can only use it for a couple of weeks at a time. You can over do with silver.

6-I am well equipped with Sunrider foods to help me heal quickly-the shakes are liquid protein and the Stevia I put in them is anti-bacterial, anti fungal and anti-viral. Also, the Quinary I added has 50 Chinese herbs to help the 5 systems of my body operate efficiently, helping my body heal quickly. I know it helped when I was recovering with my spider bite, and I know it will speed up my recovery now.

7-And speaking of recovery-I better drink extra detox tea tomorrow, they use some nasty tasting chemicals in the dentist office-and I know they can't be good for me.
           
While I am still wide awake I might as well jot down a few other things that have happened lately. I am beginning to think I am part of a Cosmic Comedy Show. Last week I found out my license was suspended. My son got a speeding ticket back in March and the officer who wrote the ticket had put my name and my driver's license number on it in error. He told my son he had dismissed the ticket, but apparently, he was as accurate at dismissing tickets as he was at writing them. I spoke to the court and found I would have to drive to Osceola County and request an identity hearing.
           
I drove down that day, I don't like the idea of having a suspended license, and my son was playing music at an English Pub that night. I could combine the trip to the courthouse with some fun with my son. On my way south, I called a girlfriend to tell her my book was almost finished, all I needed now was a publisher. I was hoping she would be able to help me this winter when I went down to promote the book and Red's new cd in the Florida Keys. The Keys had honored my husband with a front page stories of his contribution to the music scene of the Keys and a full minute of silence on the radio stations followed by an hour of "Red Music." What a nice tribute.
         
I arrived in Orlando a little early for the music and very hungry. The last thing I wanted to eat was British food (sorry Garry:), so I stopped at the Bonefish Grill and sat at the bar. The bartenders were happy and friendly-yes, this would be a great place to eat. A young man, mid thirties, sat beside me and we began chatting. The Allstar Game was due to start soon and we had perfect seats to watch the festivities. The managers were all Yankee fans and I am a Red Sox fan. I felt I was going to have to remind them we were on the same team tonight, but not just yet.
             
The young man looked a little sad and I am always trying to cheer people up, so I asked him what had brought him to Orlando. Life is too short to be sad for long. He said he was there for a tradeshow and I asked him what he did for a living. His answer was, "I work for a publishing company." I laughed and told him how I had just told a friend I needed to find a publisher because my book was almost finished. He asked me, "What is your book about?"
             
"Life and death; the last few weeks of my husband's life, his passing, how I dealt with 'things' and how my life has changed since he's been gone," I waited to see what his expression would be and he looked at me, and said, "My wife died two years ago. I still miss her." "Oh, I am so sorry for your loss. Did you have any children?" "No, we had just celebrated our 1st anniversary," he said as he looked down at his food.
             
I could hear the words coming out of my mouth, "You know sprirt world sometimes comes to us as butterflies - they are a symbol of transformation." His face brightened up with a look of disbelief and excitement, "I always think of Emmily when I see a butterfly. Her favorite place in the world was the Butterfly Emporium in Ohio. She loved it there." He went on for several minutes telling me of the butterflies there. We talked some more about how short life is and how death is just a door to eternity and then the volume of the TV and the crowd turned up. They were introducing the players and the Yankee fans cheered their team members and when the Red Sox came out they booed. I said to these 3 rather large gentlemen, "Hey, we are on the same team tonight ! We have to work together ! " "OH, OK," was their answer and each time they cheered for a Red Sox team member they looked at me with a smile, waiting for my approval. Little ole me got 3 big guys to cheer for their #1 rivals !
             
During a break in the action I leaned over to talk to my new friend. "Your Emmily wants you to move on, you know. She would want you to be happy," I heard myself say. We hugged when I left there, he gave me his email address and said he looked forward to hearing from me. I left there to go meet my son and his new girlfriend. "Mom, this is Emily, Emily, this is my mom," he introduced me. I smiled and thought, of course her name would be Emily.
             
Later that night I sent the young man an email, not only because he said he could help me publish my book, but because this young man touched my heart, and I wanted him to know my son's new girlfriend's name was Emily too, and there really are no mistakes. He emailed back within a few hours and thanked me for being at the bar and for saying what I said and agreed, it was supposed to happen because he needed it to happen to move on with his life.
             
When I realized Saturday, July 19th, was Red's birthday I was really glad I had made reservations at the High Springs Emporium for their "Rock Party." As I arrived at the store, I went out shut off my cell phone and saw Red's sisters number calling in. I had thought of his family much of the morning and was happy to hear from her. We spoke for a couple for minutes and cried a little, together. I told her I was going to a luncheon and she had caught me just in time, we said our goodbyes and I would see her September. One final ceremony for Red at Mt. Ararat Cemetery on Long Island.
             
The Rock Party was just what the spirit doctor ordered. We played with rocks, learning Honey Calcite brings joy in to our lives and green takes away emotional headaches. It was fun and fascinating and the ladies and teenagers were all interested in the same things I was-what a special day to be surrounded with like-minded individuals. We took the shattered crystals from the fire of 4 years ago at their old store. The owner held one up and smiled and said, "This is what happens when a crystal is heated to 10,000 degrees and the firemen spray it with water." She continued by asking us to pick up the broken crystals and to create a picture on the ground-to let it grow and be whatever we wanted it to be. We would put our troubles and pain into the "fire rocks" and let the heat of the sun burn away our pain. As we built our fire rock picture, butterflies were continuosly flying in amongst us, symbolizing our transformation from the old troubles to the new life ahead of us.
             
After we were done it was time to go cool down in the Ichetucknee. We stopped on the way to what she called the river house to pick up tubes. I decided to stay at the house and just enjoy the company of a few of the women who were not going to float down the river. We got to the house and played in the beautiful waters of the Ichetucknee. What a perfectly wonderful way to celebrate my deceased husband's birthday. If the amount of butterflies around were any indication of his joy, he must have been bursting with glee !
             
The ladies I had planned on hanging out with at the house had to go feed their horses. They called to the floaters, getting ready to head down river and said, "We are going. Thank you for today. I hope you have another way of getting the tubes back because I am taking my truck." I thought for a moment and said, "I'll hang out, we can load them in the back of my truck." I looked down at the dock and there was a tube being left behind. "Is anyone going to use this?" I called after the already rapidly moving floatees. "Nope" they chimed back. "Well, if I am going to wait for the tubers I might as well jump in and go too."
             
I was so glad I did. It was the most wonderful afternoon. The water temp was just above 72 degrees (the temperature of the springs which fill it year round) and the air temp was over 90 and very humid. We floated and talked and floated and paddled around fallen trees and simply relished in the joy of the moment. We got to the end of our trip, where the Ichetucknee meets the Santa Fe before they both rush off to join with the Suwannee.
             
The rivers of life all converging and rushing and ever changing. I was so happy and a little apprehensive about meeting a man I had met on a dating site. Rushing here and there and hoping this guy was not impatient. We had left our meeting time somewhat open because I was not sure what kind of schedule I would be on. Hey, if he was impatient then I didn't want him in my life, breathe deeply, Diane, the folks on the tubes will be coming down the river soon.
             
The few stragglers arrived and we jumped into the tube company shuttle van headed to the river house. We had to pick up my truck and load up these tubes to get them back to the rental place, a half hour late. As I drove to return the tubes I called the man whom I had been emailing for a few weeks on line. I apologized and he laughed and said I shouldn't worry. He had just pulled into High Springs and told me to take my time and to drive safely. Hmmm, that was a good sign.
             
I felt very strange, having a date on my deceased husband's birthday, but all the psychics and signs kept telling me to "move on." I arrived at the restaurant and changed my clothes discreetly in the parking lot. Red always used to accuse me of being an exhibitionist but I find people are so wrapped up in their own world they rarely "catch me" with my pants down.
             
I walked to the restaurant and wondered if I would recognize him from his photos on the Internet. As I walked into the bar, I picked him out quickly, sitting by the window overlooking the street. He stood and offered to get me a drink and I said I would have a glass of wine. He got it for me and sat back down and we talked easily for over half an hour waiting on our table. I looked out the window wondering if Red was happy I was out and a U Haul Rental truck pulled up to stop at the traffic light with the biggest butterfly I had ever seen painted on it's side. "Look, a butterfly !" I exclaimed to my new friend in my child like way. "It's big and it's pretty, is it something special?" he replied. "Well, spirit world often comes to us as butterflies symbolizing beautiful changes in our lives," I told him waiting to see what he would say next. He just smiled and said it must be a good sign and I agreed with him. At least he didn't run off.
             
We had a lovely dinner and I felt so much more comfortable believing spirit world was happy for me. Time will tell on the relationship, but I realized I was becoming happier every day. Thanks, for being so clear Spirit World !
             
One more thing I learned last week was how strong a reaction I could have to night shade veggies. I was eating eggplant parmesan with a friend and began to feel dizzy and nauseous. I guess my friend realized something was wrong from the look on my face and asked what was happening. I told her I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. She reached over and took my pulse and said, "Diane, your pulse is low. Take a deep breath, hold it for a moment and then breathe it out. This will change the rhythym of your heart." 
           
I began drinking water, thinking, if this is because of something I ate I know the solution to pollution is dilution. I've been teaching people for over a decade they are what they eat and how improving their diet will not only help them lose weight but can reverse everything from heart disease to depression. Now, I am finding out even good, healthy food can cause reactions.  I learned doing a difficult yoga pose would slowly, with deep breathing, will bring me out of it.
       
Then she looked at my plate and told me, “You just ate two nightshade vegetables. I wonder if you are allergic to them.” I'd heard of nightshade vegetables but never considered they would have such an adverse effect on the human body. I got on line at home and read story after story on site after site about nightshade vegetables. Laudanum, a popular opiate derivative in the 17 and 1800's was used by many for the high it produced. Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, and even Doc on Gunsmoke prescribed it. I realized I had eaten some form of nightshade every day for the past week, green and red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and white potatoes.
             
When I told my scientist son at Cornell about my symptoms he said, "Why don't you get some real tests from a real doctor and have a complete physical, Mom. One with blood tests and an EKG to find out if perhaps there was something else malfunctioning in my body." I reluctantly agreed.
             
Fortunately, I was able to get right in to see a doctor and had test after test after test. The dizzy spells were happening daily along with nausea and a fog-like feeling I can only compare with being miserably drunk. That is one addiction I have conquered but remember it's unpleasant effects all too well. I was able to drive myself into Gainesville to keep my appointment with the cardiologist specialist. I told him I suspected the "episodes" had been caused by a food allergy to nightshades, he was intrigued at the idea and we spoke at length about my very healthy heart. This young and very open minded doctor actually commended me for realizing the connection of what was going on in my body with the foods I was eating.
             
So there are 2 morals to this story, first and foremost, everything will work out ok, if you give it time. and second, if you are experiencing ill health keep a food journal. After five days of NO nightshades and I felt fine. Our bodies change over time and you never know when you may develop an allergy to dairy, wheat, or those veggies from the dark side of the night. 

Blessings,
Diane