Friday, September 17, 2010
Joe called in distress. His voice sounded hoarse and he was barely able to talk.
“I think I am in trouble. I am in real pain, I don’t know what to do.”
Joe is in his early seventies and has had diabetes all his adult life. He is a bearded old sailor, unkempt and often topped with a badly abused straw hat. He has withdrawn from society – sort of permanently retired from civilization. He lives on a small boat in the Florida Keys, where he enjoys the solitude and being surrounded by mangroves and pelicans. Aside from his daily dialogues with dolphins and seagulls, he doesn’t get to talk much.
When he comes across live human beings, he engages anyone who will listen to a non-Socratic monologue on the root causes of what is wrong with mankind and society, and the necessity for inner change. He has a genuine interest in this, and is a goodhearted person who has suffered plenty from the harshness and brutality of life and relationships.
Joe likes to make life a little brighter for himself by regular intimate contact with a bottle of rum, which, he insists, helps him overcome occasional bouts of loneliness. He calls about once a month to chat. We usually cover a lot of ground in these lengthy chats, with him doing most of the talking, and getting off the phone takes almost as long as the entire conversation.
He sounded desperate.
“I really need your help.”
I asked him what was wrong. He had drunk a little too much two days ago, and yesterday he had suddenly felt excruciating pain in his left lower abdomen. It was a sharp pain, and it did not move or go away. He could not eat or sleep. He could only barely drink water. The pain was radiating downward into the thighs. No position was comfortable and nothing made it worse or better, except he was a little worse from pressure. He frequently broke out into a sweat, and was almost going out of his mind with pain. He was exhausted, dehydrated, and seemed almost delirious. It was obvious he needed to be examined by somebody locally.
There is a possibility you may have a kidney stone. But there are also other possibilities. You really should have it checked out. Do you have anyone who can take you to the hospital?
“There is the van that comes by; they pick people up who can’t drive. I suppose I can get a ride.”
Go ahead and call them. In the meantime, get Cantharis 30C from your remedy kit, and take a dose. If you feel improvement, take a dose every time you get worse again, or every fifteen minutes. When you get to the hospital, ask them to give you a full examination. This could be something serious; you should have things checked out as soon as possible.
“Do you think I will need surgery?”
That depends on what they find out. They will probably have to x-ray you. Call me when you know more.
Joe only had a standard emergency remedy kit we had sent him years ago while he had long-distance consultations for hemorrhagic macular degeneration that caused him to temporarily go blind. He had stopped chronic treatment after a dramatic recovery from this condition, satisfied that it would not return. He had remained skeptical about homeopathy and doubted it could help him now. I knew the kit did not contain the preferred remedy Berberis vulgaris, but it did have my second choice – Cantharis, and it could not hurt to try that in the meantime.
We did not hear from Joe for two days, so we called him. After leaving four messages, he finally called back late that evening. He had a harrowing experience at the hospital.
“I went to the ER, and laid down in excruciating pain. I begged for painkillers, but they gave me nothing. After filling out all these forms, I had to wait for hours. I was writhing in agony, and had to lie down on the floor. I was lying there for two hours, before I finally got to see a doctor. The doctor arrived at last and acted like a smart-alec.
They gave me an IV with a painkiller in it and I felt about half the pain after that. But the pain never went away. I got a CT scan done. I had to lie down after, because doing the scan was so painful. They said it is a kidney stone stuck in the ureter. They could see it on the x-rays. They said I could go upstairs into the hospital as a patient or go home. Either way I would have to wait for it to pass.”
He called a friend who drove him back to his boat at three in the morning. He was still in pain when he got back, taking ibuprofen, until it finally got better, and he made himself something to eat. He had neglected his insulin shots, and he had not eaten anything in two days.
Did you ever try the remedy Cantharis?
“No, I was unable to look for it. Everything here is in a state of disarray. I was not in good shape. But I think I am better now, at least as far as the pain is concerned. I can eat, but I still don’t have any appetite.”
Okay, maybe you are better now. Call me to let me know how you are doing by tomorrow, or call immediately, if you get worse.
He called the next morning.
“I don’t think I am any better. The pain is back full force. I think it was just the ibuprofen that made it go away yesterday.”
Looks like you haven’t passed the kidney stone. Let’s try the Cantharis.
“What will it do? I don’t think that homeopathy is strong enough. What if I pass out? This is bad.”
Call the medics for assistance, if you need. But for now take the Cantharis. If it works, it may help you pass the stone.
“Really? Yes, that is what I need. I will try to find it right away.”
Joe called back that evening. He sounded excited and one hundred percent better.
“This stuff is a miracle,” he said enthusiastically. “I prepared it in water as you instructed. I took it every 15 minutes, succussing the mixture a few times before each dose, as you said. I had excruciating pain at first. As soon as I took it, I felt my body relax. I kept taking it, and now I am completely without pain.”
Congratulations! I think you may be over the worst of it. Keep taking it once every hour until tomorrow, and keep me posted.
He called the next day.
“You won’t believe this. I have absolutely no pain. Do you think I passed the stone?”
That is a good possibility. Based on what you say, at least the stone is likely out of the ureter. It has probably slipped into the bladder by now. Keep taking the remedy over the next three days, once a day. Drink lots of water.
Several days later he called again.
“I think I passed the stone. All pain is gone.”
He was full of praise for homeopathy.
“This stuff is magical. It is not intrusive, it is truly magical, it does not take over your body, it doesn’t take you over, like regular drugs do. It IS amazing. I was so surprised when I took the Cantharis, I was out of painkiller by then, when I called you, I was desperate, and had no alternative, I took it and it worked, and I was completely pain-free by the next day. This is amazing. What a novel way to treat illness homeopathy is, it is unbelievably beautiful. If we treated ourselves right (homeopathically) from the beginning, we would not need things like surgery, etc…”
Sometimes the second best remedy does the trick! I encouraged Joe to lay of his rum and resume chronic homeopathic treatment. I think I am going to suggest he go back on the remedy Sulphur. J