Practice what you preach

Over a week ago, I nearly was hospitalized because I was very ill.  The symptoms that I was expressing were extremely scary to say the least.  The symptoms included numbness and tingling that covered my head and face and traveled down both my left and right arms.  The numbness and tingling continued all the way down both my legs.  In addition to the numbness and the tingling, I had a terrible stomachache, my body was tremoring and was engulfed in weakness.   I really thought I was going to die.  I could not move.  I could not help myself.

I called my husband, Mike, and told him that I was not well and that he needed to come and help me.  This was a call that he had never received before and I'm sure a call that really scared him.

He was able to quickly come up with a game plan at his work to be able to leave and come to be by my side.  I give thanks to his company for being understanding.  When he arrived, I was thankful that he was able to calm himself enough to be rational.  I am thankful that he trusts the body and God’s design.  He has a firm understanding of how the body has been created to heal.

In the state I was in, I could not rationally think.  I could not think at all.  I just knew I did not feel well!!  Mike reached out to chiropractors that he knew to adjust me, which I am thankful he did.  I did get adjusted this evening. 

The symptoms did not stop they continue to come and go pretty intensely throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday.  By the middle of the day, the symptoms became so intense that I really didn't know what to do.  My husband was on his way home from work again to help me.  He and I debated on whether I should go to urgent care.  Being I did not want anything that a medical doctor could offer me, I pleaded that he would take me to get adjusted again.  I knew that if I went to a medical doctor that they would order expensive tests and prescribe medications (which have side effects when taken). 

My husband loaded me up into the car and he took me to get adjusted again.  In our travels to one doctor of chiropractic, we decided that we would also visit another doctor of chiropractor’s office who does Applied Kinesiology.  Being that his schedule is usually packed for weeks to months out, we knew that we would at least be able to purchase some supplements that would allow for some healing naturally from within.  When we walked into this doctor’s office, God knew I needed his help.  The patient that was supposed to be there did not make his appointment.  It was mine.  I was extremely thankful. Upon evaluation he determined that I had a gallbladder infection.  I was given one homeopathic remedy for bacteria and three Standard Process supplements to aid in healing.  After these two appointments, Mike took me back home and I went right back to bed.  

I had never slept so much in my whole life as I did these four days.  Resting and healing.  By Thursday the numbness and tingling had decreased to only my forehead and face as well as my upper arms.  The other symptoms still persisted -   fever, stomachache, my insides were shaking and my whole body was weak.   

I returned this day to the doctor’s office to be evaluated further.  I received a chiropractic adjustment, of course, and was evaluated by the Applied Kinesiologist (Doctor of Chiropractic).  At this point, my blood sugar was low and another Standard Process supplement was given.  After the appointment, I returned to home to sleep another day away. 

By Friday evening I was able to keep my eyes open and sit motionless on the couch for about 3 hours.  The numbness and tingling were gone.  I was giving thanks for my body’s ability to heal.  I still knew that more healing was necessary and I continued to trust my body.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday came and went.  I continued to have the fever, stomachache shaking and weakness.   I was able to move around very slowly.  I received a chiropractic adjustment Saturday and Monday.  By Monday night, I believed that I was starting to feel human again or perhaps I was starting to feel alive again.  Actually I am not sure how to even state how I was feeling.  Perhaps I was starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Tuesday, I was about 75% better and the trust that my body would heal has become my reality.  I have never been this sick in my life!  In the past, if I was sick, I would get adjusted and then by the evening or next day I would have been better.  The longest time that I had been sick in the past was probably for two days.  This time I was sick for eight days.  I don’t know why it took so long for my body to heal, but it did.  I was able TO PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH! 

On Tuesday morning, I could actually think again.  I knew exactly what I would be recommending for my patients to be doing.  The following are the words that I would be saying   

The road to healing takes time.  Healing doesn't always happen as fast as we would like.   In our society, we have a quick fix mentality when it comes to health.  Be patient because your body can heal. God created our body to heal.  Just like when you cut your finger, it heals.  Our body is amazing.

I knew that the infection was still present in my body because I still had the fever.  My body was elevating the temperature to kill the bacteria.   I was given continued hope because the intensity of the symptoms was decreasing and I knew that I was continuing to heal.  I needed to still be patient and NOT rush back into a busy schedule.  I did not need to overdo it, potentially putting myself back into the situation I was in last week or worse.

This morning I awoke.  I was happy to say to my husband that “Pam was back”.  I am thankful for all prayers for healing.  I am thankful for the wonderful doctors that allow my body to heal naturally – Dr. Doug McLeod, Dr. Lanny Lipson, Dr. Keith Khalil, and Dr. Linda Galladay.  I appreciate each of you and your expertise.  I appreciate that you helped me to achieve my goal which was to allow my body to heal on its own with exactly the “tools” I approve of. 

When seeking a doctor, you have to go to the doctor that will use the “tools” you are okay with and give you a recommendation that you will follow to achieve your health goal.  I remember having this conversation during Spring Hill over Labor Day with friends of ours.  The little boy told me that I was not a “real doctor”.  My response was first to ask him what it meant to be a doctor and of course he did not have an answer.  I went on to have a conversation with those at our table about what it meant to be a doctor.  Doctor is just the level of education a person has.  I did attend college for enough years, passed my classes and earned my doctorate.  I was a real doctor just like Doctors of Philosophy (PhD), Doctors of Dental Science (D.D.S), Medical Doctor (M.D.), Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.), etc.  We all went to school long enough to earn our doctorate and our specialty.  As a Doctor of Chiropractic our “tools” do not include prescriptions drugs and surgery.  Our tools are the chiropractic adjustment, supplements, homeopathy, and things that will enable the body to heal on its own without interference. 

Pam Tomaszycki, D.C. 

What is up with the CHICKEN?

Have you noticed a change in the consistency of the chicken you buy at the grocery store, meat markets or with the chicken served at restaurants?  Over the past year my family has noticed that the consistency of the chicken has changed.  It is harder to chew and has a very different consistency; a consistency that is difficult to explain.  I almost want to say that it is a little like gristle or as Sarah, one of my childcare providers, stated that chicken is “difficult to cut and is almost stringy”.  The change in the consistency of chicken made my husband and I ask a few questions.  It also confirmed that we should spend a little more money to buy a better quality of chicken.

What is up with the chicken bought today?  When you buy skinless, boneless chicken breasts, do you ever think about how big they are and the size of the chicken that they must have come from?   According to Phillip Clauer, a senior instruct at Penn State Extension, “an average broiler (chicken) . . . reaches 5 pounds (live weight) in 5 weeks.  At the desired weight, a company catching crew will catch and load the birds onto trucks to be transported to the processing plant”. (1)  Did you catch that?  The chicken on the store shelves are only about 5 weeks old.  What is in that chicken feed to make that chicken grow that big and that fast? 

Most of the feed used is “medicated but organic and pastured small farms will often use unmedicated feed”.  Meat birds are fed “high-protein feeds and is sometimes called "grower-finisher" instead”. (2)  The poultry grower finisher (chicken feed) sold at Tractor Supply consists of the following ingredients. It has a “high energy content and quality protein.  The ingredient are crude protein, lysine, methionine, crude fat, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorus, salt, and selenium”.  Is it just the food that makes a chicken grow to 5 pounds in 5 weeks or is it something in addition to the feed?

The Gerber chicken that we buy from a local Amish Meat Market is smaller in size and is tender.  It is much different in consistency from what is bought in the grocery stores, other meat markets or sold at restaurants.  On the package of Gerber chicken on the bottom left it states

All Natural Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts with Rib Meat

Minimally processed.  No artificial ingredients.  Less than 5% retained water.

Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in chicken.

 On the top left of the Gerber chicken package is states

100% Vegetarian Diet

NO Antibiotics EVER

No By-Products

No Hormones

Nothing Added

I would have to conclude that what the chicken is fed and given has something to do with the consistency of the chicken?  Otherwise the Gerber Poultry Company would not have to label the chicken this way, right?  The chicken we eat from Gerber has a vegetarian diet.  Other chicken is fed crude protein, lysine, methionine, crude fat, and crude fiber.  Lysine and methionine are amino acids which are building blocks for proteins.  Therefore the chicken is being fed a lot of protein, fat and fiber which is not a vegetarian diet.

The packaging for the Gerber Chicken lists “NO Antibiotics EVER”.  Earlier in this post I mentioned that most chicken is being fed medicated feed which includes antibiotics.    It also lists no hormones or by-products.  So the 5 to 7 week old chickens that are mass produced and sold at grocery stores and most meat markets must be made up of

High protein, fat and fiber diet including by-products

Medications including antibiotics

And possibly hormones (even though the label states that the federal

regulations prohibit the use of hormones)

Is the concern only with the consistency of the chicken?  I actually believe it is a little more than this.  Protein in our diet builds healthy muscle.  If we have protein from a poor source, what kind of muscle can it build in you?  In your children?  Could this be producing some of the sickness and disease that we have in America?  Have you heard the saying, “you are what you eat”?  I think that what we feed our bodies has the ability to produce sickness or health. 

Dr. Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.

Bibliography

1.  Clauer, P. (2016). Modern Meat Chicken Industry (Poultry). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from http://extension.psu.edu/animals/poultry/topics/general-educational-material/the-chicken/modern-meat-chicken-industry

2.  Arcuri, L. (n.d.). Types of Commercial Chicken or Poultry Feed. Retrieved July 13, 2016, from http://smallfarm.about.com/od/chickens/a/Types-Of-Commercial-Chicken-And-Poultry-Feed.htm

SIX Ingredients to AVOID on Food Labels!

Do you read food labels?  If so, are there certain ingredients that you avoid?  Reading food labels can be a daunting task.  Attempting to read all of the words that are difficult to pronounce and an ingredient label that is super long.  This is actually my first clue that I should not buy the product. My husband and I have also created a list that makes it easier and faster to put a food product back on the shelf.

The ingredients that we avoid are

                Propylene glycol (like antifreeze)

                Monosodium glutamate (hidden under other names such as autolyzed and hydrolyzed) 

                Red Dye (actually all food dyes)

                High Fructose Corn Syrup

                Trans Fat (hidden in the ingredient label as hydrogenated)

                Interesterified Fat (worse than trans fat)

This is not an all-inclusive list, however it does make scanning a label a lot quicker.  If we see these ingredients, we simply put the item back on the shelf and search for another product.  Eventually it becomes easier to shop because you know which products and brands that have the ingredients in that you are okay with buying.  Just be careful because sometimes the ingredients do change.

The reason why we avoid these food is because they are not good for your body.  They are artificially made and have side effects.  In fact, over the years as we have consistently read food labels, we buy less in the grocery store and prepare our food from scratch at home.  It is time well invested for our family’s health.  We spend our evenings and mornings prepping foods and we utilize our crock pots.  It is not uncommon for us to have a crock pot cooking food through the night to pack for our lunches in the morning.  We then have a second crock pot that we put on a timer to cook throughout the day that has our dinner in it.

It is time well invested.  Time invested on our health.

Dr. Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.

ROOTS AND FRUITS

I have heard this analogy a couple of times.  If you want to know what a person’s roots are, then look at the fruits being produced.  This could be used in so many situations like health, relationships, finances, etc.

The roots are created by what we have been taught growing up and what we continuously hear over and over again by people, media, music, television, and internet.  Our roots continue to be developed by what we learn as we go through life.  Our roots determine what we invest our time, energy and money.  These roots will soon produce our fruits; the things we see in our life.

There is a verse in the Bible that states, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:7-8) 

 A question that each of us can ask ourselves is what are the fruits being produced in our life’s?  Are we are proud of the fruits?  Are we excited to be producing these types of fruits?  Or are you not happy with the roots?  Answering these questions may be the biggest challenge.  Once you can identify the fruits that you like and the ones you don’t like, you can choose to continue to nurture the roots that produce the fruits you like.  You can also change the roots that produced those fruits you don’t like.  Know that it may not be a quick fix; it may not happen in one day; it may take a commitment and a desire to make a change. 

I see this daily in the healthcare industry.  I am blessed to care for patients that are seeking answers to their health challenge; to pain.  I offer a solution to correct the cause of the problem.  To correct the misalignments of the spine that are interfering with the nerve system function appropriately.  If your roots have been that you need to care for your spine like you do your teeth or your body, then you probably already have been seeking chiropractic care to ensure that your spine remains free of decay.  However if in your roots, you were not taught the importance of caring for your spine, then you probably have decay that has set in over the years. 

When it comes to health, some people will have the roots that are based in “quick fixes”.  They will choose to cover up their symptoms with medications or just remove the part that is not functioning without considering the long term effects.  The question to ask yourself, is how is it working for you?  Is it producing the quality of life that you want?

It’s our roots that will determine our future and whether our “leaves will remain green throughout our life”.  Our roots, when it comes to our health, will determine what our retirement years will be like.  I choose quality!  What do you choose?

Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.

“The most common symptom of curable colon cancer is NOTHING”.

This is on the billboard sign on M 59 at Van Dyke Expressway in honor of Colon Cancer Awareness.    

This sign can actually be taken a step further.  The most common symptom of ____________is NOTHING.  You can fill in the blank with many diseases (heart attack, cancer, etc).  My question to you is when do you take action and focus on your health or lack of health?     Do you wait for symptoms to show up (reactive)?  Are you proactive?

Some of us may have a belief that was taught to us by those around us or the American society.  If you have SYMPTOMS, you are NOT HEALTHY.  If you have NO SYMPTOMS, you are HEALTHY. 

The lack of symptoms, does not indicate health.  And vice versa, the presence of symptoms does not indicate the lack of health.  It cannot get any more confusing, can it?  Let me explain this.

Let’s start with the presence of symptoms; symptoms like fever, vomiting, diarrhea.  These symptoms can be a healthy response.  For example, you may have just eaten something that is toxic which has created food poisoning in your body.  Your body wants to get rid of the food as fast as possible from all directions so that the toxins do minimal damage.  Another example of these symptoms being a healthy response, is in the case of a bacteria or virus entering your body.  The body may create these symptoms in order to kill the bacteria or virus.  In these two examples, what would happen if you stopped these symptoms?  The food, bacteria or virus could create a bigger problem; more sickness; more destruction.  These symptoms are good even though they may not feel well.

What about symptoms such as aches, pain, numbness and tingling.  Are these healthy symptoms?  Probably not.  These symptoms usually are your body’s warning signals going off.  “Houston we have a problem”!  Each person has a choice on how they deal with these types of symptoms.  First, you can choose to cover up these warning symptoms with medications.  Second, you can choose to listen to your body and seek help to find and correct the cause.  I will tell you that you can NOT correct the cause of these symptoms with a medication because the cause of the problem is not a lack of a medication.  If you choose to cover up the symptoms with medications it would be like the following example.   When the engine light goes off in your car, you take duct tape and put it over the light so that you cannot see the light anymore.  Is the problem with your car gone?  What will happen eventually with your car if you took this approach and never searched for the cause of the engine light going on?  My guess is that the car would eventually not work any longer.  You then would be forced to do what you could have chosen to do when the engine light originally went on  You could have taken it to the mechanic and had them search for the cause of the engine light going on.  Had the repair and your car would continue to run smoothly.  My point of all of this is that when there are symptoms present, don’t ignore them.  Don’t cover them up with medication.  Find the cause, because your body is attempting to alert you that there is a serious problem going on inside.

This leads us to when your body has no symptoms.  This situation can be the most challenging, especially if you have the mentality “if it is not broke then don’t fix it”.  If you judge your health like a big portion of our American society (as mentioned above), then you would believe that if you have no symptoms then you are healthy.  Let’s revisit the billboard sign by the medical doctor that stated, “The most common symptom of curable colon cancer is NOTHING.  So if you are waiting for a symptom to show up to take action, then you are a time bomb waiting to happen. 

 I urge you to take a proactive approach when it comes to your health.  Take care of your health and your body.  You are only given one body for your entire lifetime.  Invest in it, both time and money.  Invest in nutritious food, clean water, exercise, chiropractic care, proper amount of sleep are a few examples. 

How you invest in your health today, will determine the quality of life you will have in your future.  What do you want your retirement years to look like?  Are you wanting to create quantity (maximum number of years), quality (able to do the things you enjoy doing), or BOTH?   

Dr. Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.

Are you “PATCHING” your health like the roads?

As I was driving across M-59 this morning, I became very aware of the condition of the roads as I hit a pothole and dodged to avoid others.  The section of road that I was driving on was covered in asphalt patches.  Holes that were filled with asphalt due to damage from the cars and weather. Chunks of the patches were coming out again leaving the holes. 

I am sure that we see how the roads are taking care of and how the problems are corrected.  At first they attempt to patch the holes as a temporary fix.  Eventually they may spend more time and money to remove a big portion of the concrete by cutting out a couple square feet and then fill it in with new concrete.  Down the line, the inevitable happens, and the entire road has to be torn out and the new put in.  This can be very expensive and time consuming.

 

My mind began wander, connecting the road conditions to how people take care of their health.  When their health begins to crumble or fall apart, they “patch” it or cover it up with medications and/or pain pills.  When the next big “pot hole” is created or major health challenge comes along, they again cover up with more patching.  Perhaps now the patch does not work and now they have to actually remove a portion of the body that is not working properly with surgery.  BUT what happens to your health when it continues to crumble?

We are given only one body.  A body that has exactly the right number of parts that it needs to function perfectly when maintained and taken care of.  We cannot totally remove the portion of our body that has totally malfunctioned like that 1 mile stretch of the road.  The damage is done and a lot of it is permanent.  Now what do you do?  What decisions do you have to make?  Tough ones! 

The road to healing is not an easy one.  It is a road that takes time and a financial investment.  Perhaps your health is worth it to you; perhaps it is not.    If it is, there are healthy lifestyle changes you can make that can begin to make a difference like eating healthy, drinking water, exercising, and adding chiropractic as a part of your routine to allow for some healing to take place.

So the choice is up to each of us.  Do you take care of your health like the roads?  Or do you focus on doing all that you can to take care of the ONE body that you have; and the health of that one body during your entire lifetime? 

Pamela L. Tomaszycki, D.C.

Have you seen the billboard?

"Keep healthy, get your flu vaccine"

Every time I pass this billboard on I-94, my initial thought is that I will keep healthy.  However I will keep healthy by NOT getting the flu vaccine!  My plan for keeping healthy will be a little different than injecting my body with a vaccine full of chemicals to be injected into my body to protect me from only ONE strain of the flu (H1N1 flu virus, bird virus, swine virus, etc).  Not to mention the chemicals which potentially could have side effects.  Being that there are more than ONE strain of the flu, I would rather focus on a different approach.

I would rather focus on keeping a healthy immune system which is strong and can rid itself of any germ, bacteria or virus that comes my way.  So when it comes to the flu, cold or any other sickness, I focus on investing in things that will build my immune system up to fight EVERY strain of the flu, bacteria, virus or germ I come in contact with. 

 I will build my immune system by
1) getting the proper amount of rest
2) providing my body with the proper nutrition to make strong, healthy cells
3) drink the appropriate amount of water.  This is calculated by taking my body weight and dividing it in half.  This equals the ounces of water I need to drink daily.
4) taking good quality supplements, when necessary
5) and of course, making sure my nerve system is free of nerve interference.  Since every single cell, organ and system (including the immune system) is controlled by the nerve system

Growing up, I would probably have believed this billboard.  I believed that health came from a pill or from the outside.  When I was sick, my parents would take me to the Medical Doctor.  The MD would give me a prescription for amoxicillin.  I would take it and my body would get better.  It was not until I was able to drive that I realized that my body could actually heal itself.  I would drive myself to our family medical doctor per my parents’ request.  I would get the script for amoxicillin but I would not drive to the pharmacy.  Instead I would drive home and sleep.  And, by surprise (seriously!), my body would heal….even without the amoxicillin. 

Today I have an understanding of where health comes from.   I trust that taking care of my body will result in true health.    

Dr. Pam Tomaszycki, D.C.