Unexpected Lessons

The year I turned 50, my world unexpectedly collapsed. My 49th year was spent struggling with aging issues. I wondered if I should keep coloring my hair, questioned why I was so depressed at the thought of turning 50, and grieved that my youth was growing distant. As the health of my children deteriorated and I found myself in one emergency room after another, I put my aging issues on the back burner.

I recently turned 56. I've had time to reflect on growing older. I've also had time to think about suffering, loss, depression, and grief in ways I would never have imagined. I haven't resolved my struggles. In fact, I have more questions than ever. But I've learned to live with them and embrace them. As Rainer Maria Rilke suggested, "Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves."



I celebrate this milestone with humble gratitude that, despite my weaknesses, I have learned some valuable and unexpected lessons.

Here are five things I've learned since turning 50:

1. Hard doesn't mean impossible.
   "Can't" was a big part of my inner vocabulary. I didn't realize this until we were faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Now I understand that life may be hard or difficult, but not impossible. "I can't" has become "I can try."
2. My voice matters.
   As our medical needs grew in the days following my 50th birthday, I found myself at the mercy of more than 60 medical professionals. I felt voiceless and inadequate, drowning in a sea of expertise. Something was wrong and I knew it. I faced a difficult choice. Do I listen to the experts or trust my instincts as a mother? My decision to listen to my mother's heart has made all the difference.
3. Embrace reality.
   As life became increasingly difficult, I found myself idealizing my past. "If only" and "I wish" kept my heart and mind directed to our old life. "Someday" kept me idealizing our future. Only when I chose to embrace reality did I find myself able to connect with our present. Today is all we have and all we're meant to live.
4. My health is my own.
   When our health declined I looked to a doctor to fix us. I resisted responsibility for my family's health. After exhausting our options, I knew it was time to try a different path. Food became our best prescription for recovery. My kitchen became our pharmacy. Taking charge of one's own health is both empowering and rewarding.
5. Keep going.
   My health and mind collapsed the day our world collapsed, and I struggled to get through every minute of every day. My unrelenting fatigue, along with the sudden loss of my mother, took me deeper into despair and discouragement. I hung onto one thought: "Don't give up." Even if I wasn't "succeeding" and our lives were still in turmoil, at least I was trying. There is much to gain simply by taking the next step.

I no longer see aging as something to deny and defy. Now I understand the truth. Aging is both a privilege and an opportunity, as expressed in these words by poet Robert Browning:

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be . . .

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Nighttime EMF Protection

Little is known about the long-term implications of Wi-Fi, cell phones, and other electronic/electrical devices. With our world revolving around these gadgets, how do we use these devices wisely?

One way is to pay attention to the EMF exposures at night. It makes sense to allow time for the body to rest from the constant assault of wireless technology during the day. According to this article by natural health advocate Dr. Joseph Mercola, there are five ways to create a sleep sanctuary:

1. Use battery clocks near bed.
   Research has shown that exposure to high magnetic fields while sleeping can cause severe long-term illness. Many electric clocks produce high magnetic fields.
2. Turn off bedroom circuit breakers.
   A restful sleep is necessary for health and a strong immune system. Electric fields affect the bio-communication system, keeping you from sleeping soundly.
3. Eliminate or shield from RF.
   Radio frequency (RF) signals from portable phones, cell phones, and wireless devices have been shown to interfere with the body's immune system.
4. Use beds without metal.
   Metal frames and metal box springs can amplify and distort the earth's natural magnetic field, which can lead to a non-restful sleep. Use natural materials.
5. Make sure there are no elevated magnetic fields.
   Magnetic fields from appliances and building wiring can penetrate walls into a bedroom and disrupt the body's communication system.

I recently purchased this simple gauss meter to check for elevated magnetic fields. There are also several smart phone/Android apps available for free, including Micro Lab's EMP Detector.

I used the meter to check the walls in our home, paying careful attention to the ones near our beds. Only one wall elicited a meter response—the wall backing up to the dehydrator. Since the dehydrator often runs during the night, we moved the bed.

The following video demonstrates the use of this meter and how simple it is to protect yourself.

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Building Forensics

The following article comes from the UK and is titled, "Toxic Mould and Construction Defects Harming Public Health." This clearly demonstrates that the issue of indoor air quality is an international one.

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The quest for reduced carbon emissions from buildings – and therefore a lower level of air changes – has in recent times created a general increase in ‘building tightness’: new and restored buildings fail to ‘breath’ properly, leading to a general moisture build-up which in turn results in the health concerns of mould and rot or decay. Typically, Building Forensics has found that the application of new building tightness conditioning such as BREEAM, LEED and part L of the Building Regulations, coupled to poor construction management, is increasingly causing such building defects and health issues.

Jeff Charlton of Building Forensics states: “Building Forensics has found increasing evidence that construction management is failing to control quality standards or, indeed, even to comply with manufacturers’ or architects’ design or installation requirements. Worse still, we’ve found that few surveyors or inspectors have the equipment or training to undertake non-intrusive investigation or to be able identify hidden defects such as missing insulation, thermal bridging and the presence of toxic chemicals.”

He continues: “And Building Forensics is further finding that facility managers are increasingly mis-diagnosing design and build faults which cause condensation or pooling and mould. They wrongly attribute these symptoms to presumed leaks which insurers then wrongly pay to fix. And meanwhile the health problems continue to get worse.”

The combination of high cellulose materials and misuse of vapour barriers, thermal bridging from poor or missing insulation or failure to seal the building envelope properly can result in the growth of toxic mould such as Penicillium, Tricoderma and Stachybotrys.

While visible mould is a good indicator of the health risk, it should be recognised that the moisture required for mould growth, sometimes from leaks but usually from condensation, often occurs out of sight in voids or behind plasterboard cavity walls. The problems start with the building or renovation of buildings with no regard to the historic knowledge that buildings need to breath and remove moisture, especially in a cold wet climate.

And as was shown in US timber frame construction 10 years ago, identifying the problems generally requires more equipment than a standard two pin wood moisture meter and current inspection techniques.

Jeff Charlton is available for comment and interview on the findings of Building Forensics, and more information on typical health concerns and construction defect can be found at the Building Forensics website.

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Health Reform

It's hard to believe that at one time in the history of the church, people were not permitted to read the Bible for themselves. They relied entirely on the knowledge of others. Many couldn’t read, but even the ones who could had to listen to the words in another language and then have them interpreted.

This eventually changed, but it took years of reform and awakening.

I can't help but draw a parallel with our prevailing public view of medical care.

When Colin was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, I had no idea where the pancreas was located in the human body and certainly had no idea of its function. It didn't occur to me to study this information. I simply wanted to know how to take care of my son, and I relied solely on the medical professionals.

As our illnesses progressed over the next year I continued to see doctors as the experts. I was the common layperson in the pew.

But something shifted during this time. Something deep inside. I began to listen to my instincts as a mother. I began to trust those instincts. There was an awakening, and my view of the medical world changed.

I bought an Anatomy and Physiology book. I began to study for myself.

I learned about enzymes and amino acids. I studied the functions of the liver, the pancreas, the salivary glands, the vestibular system, and the parasympathetic nervous system.

I didn't lose my respect for the medical profession. I'll never be able to perform an emergency appendectomy or remove a cancerous tumor. I'm grateful for those who can.

But I can learn. And ask questions.

Thanks to the Internet, many of us are finding empowerment when it comes to our health.

This tells me that health reform isn't going to come from Congress after all.

Perhaps it lies within each one of us.

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