Natural Treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic Retinopathy, a condition in which tiny blood vessels of the retinas leak, is one of the major causes of blindness in the U.S. It can be avoided by carefully controlling blood sugar. In my case, since I was an undiagnosed diabetic for many years, high blood sugars have caused me to contract this condition.

I am now carefully controlling my blood sugars, but the damage is done. Normal medical therapy for this condition is laser treatments to seal up the bleeding blood vessels. I had this treatment in 2010. I can’t say I was all that pleased with the results. 

I went to a retinal specialist and he said “Now we are going to give you one treatment on your left eye this week, then next week one on the right eye, then the next week, another treatment on the left and then another treatment on the right.” And I said “No.”

“Doctor, I can’t let you work on both eyes at once because if something goes wrong, I have to drive for my job, and I won’t be able to work, and then I will have no insurance and no money to pay you for these treatments.” 

He looked at me with this stone cold look on his face and said, “Well, you could always go on disability. “ 

I said to myself, this guy knows nothing about what it’s like to live on disability. First of all, getting approved is difficult. You can’t get approved if you are still working, so I’d have to quit. Then after you get approved, you aren’t eligible for Medicare for two years. So he wants me to take a 3/4 pay cut and get no medical treatment for two years so I can take his treatments.

“What are the possible side effects from this procedure?”

“None,” he says. 

“Doctor, there is no such thing as a medical procedure without possible side effects.

”He says, “If your vision worsens, it will be because of the progression of your disease, and not because of anything I might do.”

“I am not saying you would do anything wrong. But even if everything goes right, there could still be side effects. Pain, redness blurred vision, anything like that?”

“No.”

I didn’t believe him. “Well, this is my offer. You can work on the left eye, and if that goes all right, then you can work on the right one.”

He says, “I think that is an extraordinarily foolish decision. If you don’t take these treatments, in a year you’ll be blind.”

It has been 11 years, and I am not blind. Is my vision perfect? No, but I’m not blind.

He finally agreed to work on one eye. After the first treatment, the whole top half of my field of vision clouded up. After the second treatment, the bottom half clouded up, and I had no usable vision in that eye for six months. I had been right. There was pain, swelling, and blurred vision, just the side effects I had been afraid of. I didn’t go back to have the other eye done.

The eye he worked on had no better vision than the other one. Then they wanted to do a vitrectomy, a procedure that terrifies me. No, not for me.

So I have started to look for alternative treatments. One of the functions of Vitamin C in the body is to strengthen the walls of veins and capillaries. So I am assuming I need more Vitamin C if my tiny blood vessels are leaking. In any other part of the body, leaking blood vessels would be called a bruise. What can you do to heal bruises naturally?

According to Fergon.com, “ Individuals who have low iron levels are more susceptible to bruising and experiencing bruises that last a long time. Therefore, it may be beneficial to take iron supplements…Other recommendations include… Eating a healthy diet with iron-rich foods, as well as foods with vitamin C and vitamin K, aid the reabsorption of blood and the healing of bruises as well.”

According to an article in BioMed Central’s Journal, Eye and Vision, 

Nutritional and medical food therapies for diabetic retinopathy,

“We have reviewed the literature for nutritional interventions that support conventional therapies to reduce disease risk and severity. Optimal combinations of vitamins B1, B2, B6, L-methylfolate, methylcobalamin (B12), C, D, natural vitamin E complex, lutein, zeaxanthin, alpha-lipoic acid, and n-acetylcysteine are identified for protecting the retina and choroid.

Large doses of B6, B12, and Folic Acid have also shown to lower homocysteine levels, thereby limiting damage to blood vessels by homocysteine. 

So I am starting a regimen of the above vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Webber Naturals Supervision 50 Plus

Kai Nutritional Yeast Tablets

Ancestral Supplements Beef Liver for Iron

Vitamin D with K2

I have also been doing the Keto Diet and have lowered my A1c from 7,9 to 6.7 without medication.

I will let you know how it goes. 

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Offering Piano Lessons One Again

 We are finally able to make piano lessons available to our clients once again. 

 $10 per lesson, beginning and intermediate students, adult or child. Lesson fees can be paid in cash or by PayPal - no checks.One months worth of lessons paid in advance.

Lessons are given at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 720 N. Tejon, in downtown Colorado Springs. 

Students must remain masked if unvaccinated. 

For more info or to sign up, 719-640-0857 or email at unhinderedliving@gmail.com

PayPal payments can be sent to unhinderedliving@gmail.com

The Value of a Plus-Size Woman

 

I’m getting ready for a date. I have carefully chosen the most flattering clothing, as all women do. I have carefully applied makeup, arranged my hair, and step back to look in the mirror. Just by virtue of the fact that I am a woman, there is a good chance I will not like what I see. Because no matter who you are, our culture makes you insecure about what you see. And if you are a plus-size woman, you receive even more negative messages than the average woman. 

I use the word “average” but, in fact, plus-size women ARE the average now. Society is only now starting to give us some much needed validation. 

I love Sarah Millican. She’s my favorite comedian. Not only is she hilariously funny, but in a recent show she told the audience, “I’m fatter than I’ve ever been, and I couldn’t give less of a shit.” I love you Sarah, you’re my hero. 

If you are considering asking a plus-size woman out on a date, well, why would you want to when there are so many “normal” women available? A plus-size woman, by virtue of her situation, is an incredibly confident woman. And isn’t confidence attractive? She has to be confident. No one else is validating her, so she has to do it herself. She knows her worth, and she doesn’t need you. So the fact that she WANTS you is a compliment to you. 

She is probably an extremely intelligent person. She’s developed her mind because all her life she’s been told, “you don’t have much of a body, so you better develop your brain.”  And she has, not to prove anything to you, but because she was smart to begin with, and she knows it.

She is more than likely an extremely empathetic person, due mostly to the indignities she’s had to endure. She knows what it’s like to be disregarded, overlooked, and ignored. She knows what it’s like to be thought of as less than human, and she doesn’t want you to ever have to feel that way.

Yet no one ever recognizes her BEAUTY. Yes, the round fullness of her voluptuous curves is beautiful. The softness of her huggable body is a joy. The depth of her emotion is unfathomable. She quivers with delight as you touch her, as you make clear to her that you love to touch her.

Yes, we are confident, intelligent, and empathetic. But we have a beauty all our own, if you take the time to experience it. 

If not, well, frankly, we won’t give you a second thought. Believe it or not, for every one of you who disregards us, there are three who will not. Yes ladies, your confidence and exuberance for life are like a magnet. And the potential partners of truly superior quality will be drawn to you. 

So if you are one of those who says “No thank you,” you’ve proved my point. By choosing to pass up a truly incredible woman, you have showed your unworthiness, and made plain your lack of superior quality. We’re not crying over you. We feel sorry for you, but we’re not losing any sleep over you. 

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Ethical Non-Monogamy: Is It For You?

Have you ever wondered why 50% of marriages end in divorce? And why half of those who do stay married report being unhappy in their relationships? Only one in four marriages can be considered a success, and yet this is the relationship style that our society touts as the gold standard. Relationship partners who don’t stay married are often blamed for their lack of commitment, and yet our society remains committed to a relationship style that doesn’t work. I would submit to you that it is our relationship model that is flawed, not the humans trying to desperately cling to it.

But marriage and monogamy are not the only viable relationship models. According to the latest research, as much as 6% of the American population is engaged in consensual non-monogamous relationships. That translates into millions of people who have escaped the straightjacket of forced monogamy. No, this is not the same as infidelity. When a partner has been unfaithful, there has been a breaking of trust. Partners who have pledged monogamy and then find themselves straying and using lies and deceit to hide it from their partner is breaking trust with their partner. But when relationship partners design their relationships from the start to include the possibility of other partners, and open, honest communication about such partners is engaged in with the consent of all, there is no breaking of trust. This is ethical and productive.

Consensual non-monogamous relationships can take the form of sex for fun, or “swingers” as they have been called. Or the relationships can be more serious, permanent, and intimate. Polyamory, or “many loves” as the term is defined, usually takes the form of more permanent relationships. There are many forms: one man with two women; one woman with two men, both called “throuples”; two couples of opposite or same genders, and the list can  go on and on. The configuration is limited only by the members’ ability to love. 

Why would anyone in a traditional relationship style want to open up their relationship to other partners? For my husband of ten years and myself, the idea began after a long discussion about evolutionary biology. For most of the millions of years that humans have existed on this planet, they have been polyamorous. Monogamy was only popularized by the Romans 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Polyamory gave humans an evolutionary advantage, hence the reason it has survived to this day in spite of society’s concerted attempt to stamp it out. 

Our discussion then turned to more practical matters. We agreed that we saw no reason why a relationship in which one of the partners had been “unfaithful” needed to be dissolved, at least, not if the partners understood the causes of such wandering and were willing to be open and honest about them. My husband had always assured me of his love in the strongest terms, and I am secure in that love. In terms of evolutionary biology, however, the need for variety is hardwired into our DNA. It is not a character flaw, it is genetic. His appreciation of a beautiful woman as we walk down the street has nothing to do with inadequacy on my part, and I do not feel threatened by it. I can even share in his appreciation. 

Then my husband asked the million dollar question. If I had sex with someone else, would you be offended? He was very brave to ask, and I appreciated his openness. I gave this a long bit of consideration, but I could find no reason to object. I had no fear he was going to leave me. He has spent the last ten years assuring me daily that I am a cut above any woman he has been with, even though I am obviously not as physically attractive as the average woman. He had convinced me of how incredibly happy he was with me. So I had no fear of rejection. None whatsoever.

The obvious question that I get asked is, if he is so happy, why is he straying? Well, I object to that terminology. He isn’t straying, he is fulfilling unmet needs. Let me answer it this way. What is your favorite food? If you say “cheesecake” then why don’t you eat it every day, for every meal? Because obviously, you might occasionally want something else. Just because I choose steak once in a while doesn’t mean I don’t love cheesecake anymore. I just like a little variety. 

Needing variety isn’t a character flaw. Diversity is actually the key to a healthy species, which is why families that interbreed eventually produce offspring with genetic errors and disease. 

So I told my husband no, I wouldn’t be offended, as long as we discussed each encounter and we were both aware of everything that was going on. Perhaps if the person was someone I liked, we could even make them a permanent part of our relationship. And that’s how we started. 

I have to say that being totally open and honest about all our thoughts and feelings has only served to deepen our relationship. I haven’t regretted it yet.

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The Danger of Compulsory Schooling

For the majority of people, life is a struggle which consists of doing what everyone else wants them to do while suppressing or ignoring what they really want to do with their lives. This starts in infancy, when babies and young children, eager to please parents and other caregivers, willingly comply with most requests. But later, as they begin to see that what other people want is not what they want, they begin to step into their individuality, and begin to refuse to be controlled, and we punish them for developing this amazing personal autonomy. We send them to formalized schooling, which are bastions of social indoctrination and control, and where we expect them to learn to fall in line and do things the way everyone else does them. This is soul-crushing and cruel.

So schooling does not equal education. Many of the worlds greatest thinkers eschewed most early formal schooling. People like Farragut, Edison, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Washington, Melville, Twain, and one of my personal favorites, Margaret Mead.

Margaret Mead grew up in a freethinking, intellectual home. Her father was a professor at the Wharton School of Finance, her mother was a sociologist. and her grandmother was a child psychologist. Her early formal schooling consisted of one year and half days in the fourth grade. Later she did attend high school, but spent six years in various schools. She then completed several advanced degrees and became a field researcher in anthropology.

Now you might say, her parents were intellectuals with advanced degrees, how could the average person do this with their kids? Parents in this country and around the world are doing it every day. You as the parent just provide support and help when asked. You don’t have to stand over them making sure they do lessons. They are naturally curious and given the chance, they will find something they are interested in.

If you are a person who values your own autonomy, you will not take away your children’s autonomy. H.. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public educa

to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. . . . Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim.. . is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States . . . and that is its aim everywhere else. 

Public education has been a grand, mass experiment to see just how much the powerful could control the powerless. Do you want to be one of the powerless? Is that what you want your children to be? Give them a fighting chance to break out of this social straightjacket.


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We would like to interview anyone who is unschooling their children, now or in the past. If you would be willing to be interviewed, please email us at:  unhinderedliving@gmail.com

Pain Reminds Us We’re Still Human

In Western society today, the quest to empower ourselves is endless. Self-help books abound, and we eagerly line up to sit at the feet of any self-styled guru who promises us more of whatever we’re seeking. We want less pain and more pleasure. We want people to stop reminding us of our faults and start building us up. We want to revel in our extraordinary qualities and leave behind our imperfections and vulnerabilities.

To be sure, a healthy dose of self-esteem is a good thing. But we forget that in life, everything is our teacher, and our pain exists to remind us that we are still human. We will never be extraordinary, and that’s okay.

Human beings are already perfect - in their messiness, their meanness, their intolerance and their weakness. We have a desire to lift ourselves above these qualities, as if they are somehow less desirable than our more altruistic attributes. But without our messiness, we would not be authentic humans, we would be supermen and women, which we definitely are not.

We are beautiful, difficult, strong, unreliable, smart, capable, irritating messes. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be. If you expect something higher or nobler from yourself or the people you come in contact with, you are creating your own frustration and pain by holding unreasonable expectations about what being human is supposed to be like. 

The next time you experience pain - physical or emotional - how about taking a deep breath and embracing it rather than running from it? Sit with it a while. I know it feels like a morass you’ll never get out of. You are afraid to stay there too long for fear you can’t get out. But you can, any time you want. Knowing that should help you feel comfortable staying there a little longer. Be a full participant in you life. Don’t eschew parts of it you think aren’t worthy or are too messy. 

Our pain reminds us that we are no different from anyone else, no matter how much we want to be better. There are no good people and bad people. Just humans struggling with our messiness. No villains and victims. We all have the same longings and the same trouble fulfilling them. Almost all of us want companionship along the way. And we want others to honor our choices even if they disagree.

We’re all just figuring this out as we go, so how about some compassion, for ourselves and those we come in contact with. They don’t show any to me, you say. No, and you shouldn’t expect them to. They’re still figuring out how to do that. But the best hope they have of learning is to see you doing it, day by day. 

It’s a paradox that, as we seek to accomplish the elimination of suffering, we learn that we can’t be human without it. We learn that it has a place in our lives. And when we learn that, our suffering becomes less somehow. We learn to embrace everything and be afraid of nothing. 

No one can escape their messiness. But we can love ourselves and others anyway.

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What the.......

Today when I got home from picking up my grocery order at Walmart, this is what I found in my bag.

I did not see this before I got home because it was a grocery pickup order and they loaded it into the back of my car while I sat in the car.

Walmart, you need to train your employees to remove these items from their protective containers before giving them to us. I needed the test strips immediately, and I live on the other side of town from your store, and I am not wasting my time and gas to drive all the way back so you can remove this. It’s toast now.