Taking the
Reins of
Abundant
Health
By Judy James
When we were little, we were told to brush our teeth,
eat our veggies, and go to bed when it was time.
There's a very good chance there's great wisdom in
such a simple approach to taking care of ourselves.
Somewhere along the way, health became a very
serious game, as evidenced by the myriad of specialists
who poke, prod, and pass us around. I am certainly
grateful for them when it happens that what I have
is something they have seen before, but the Marcus
Welby of yesteryear had value, too, possessing a
comprehensive overview of the individual, and a
little common sense. The Doctor Welbys of today are
known as integrative specialists and practice a new
kind of approach that has an old familiar ring to it.
Specifically, that form of integrative approach is called
functional medicine, so called because the overlap of
the different body functions, or systems, are taken into
account as they interact with each other.
My introduction to functional medicine came in
2011 when I had a resistant staph infection (resistant to treatment), the kind of bacteria they called
"flesh-eating."
I was in the
Chattahoochee
River just south
of Atlanta as part
of a cleanup crew
when a small
wound on my foot
became infected 20
in that filthy water. The result was a toe that was
slowly eroding before my eyes. I tried medications
and surgeries, and spent three months making daily
trips to the hospital for painful intravenous infusions
of drugs that were most apt to stop the progress of the
infection. The only results were serious side effects, as
when my lungs filled with fluid, and other reactions
which hindered my health, instead of supporting it.
I was told that amputation would be probable and
necessary to perform before the infection reached
bone, which would result in death in two week's time.
Finally, my prayers were answered not with healing,
but with re-direction.
A friend told me about Dr. David Lee, a chiropractor in Woodstock with a functional approach
and a room full of cutting edge scientific equipment.
I heard he got results. I went and was immediately
put at ease there as I met people who had recovered
from all sorts of conditions, with clients and Doctor
giving God the credit for the healing. The love of Jesus
was evident there and produced a peace that worked
a thorough kind of healing. After about six weeks of
spa-like treatments, my infection apparently became
uncomfortable in its nest and took the nearest exit out
of my body - straight up through the skin of the toe. I
remember looking down to see something like a white
powder covering my toe one morning; Dr Lee said to
scrape it off and thank the Lord - I was healed. As I
scraped the residue off, I marveled at the new, fresh,
healthy skin that was there. I hadn't seen that in six
months.