I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s been some time since my last post. During my much needed time offline, I’ve learned some valuable life lessons that I’m humbled to share with you. I’ve grown and I’m thankful for it.

In the last month or so I have been made aware that the days of being in my 20ʼs and feeling invincible and carefree are over. I am a busy mom of two and naturopathic physician, so it is fair to say that I am responsible for each of my patient’s health as well as my family’s: a dynamic role that I take very seriously. So seriously in fact, that I have slowly and unintentionally neglected my own health. Not something that I recognized at first, but was quite apparent when the side pain I was experiencing was in fact a kidney stone. I was in a complete state of shock. How did this happen? I am a naturopath – an expert in healthcare and I should know better, right? What a humbling reminder that I am human and I too need reminders that I am not invincible.

My diagnosis made me extremely emotional – which seemed to make the medical staff uncomfortable due to the commonality of a kidney stone. They were confused, and somewhat complacent to my strong emotional reaction. Our perspectives differ and they did not communicate that my actions contributed to this painful outcome. As a naturopathic physician I know that this outcome is a sign of imbalance and had I not lost sight of my daily commitment to myself and my health, I likely could have avoided this trip to the hospital. With this realization, I reaffirmed my promise to put my health first. I set my sights on getting rid of this nasty kidney stone – but first reflected on my actions leading up to it.

Why me – how did I get a kidney stone?

• Life as an ND can be hectic. Office hours are long and sometimes I stay sedentary for far too long.
• More water please. I am a breastfeeding mom and require more than average, so I simply wasn’t replenishing enough.
• Pick-me-ups. I love coffee (you can relate right?) but my diuretic intake didn’t balance with my water intake.
• History. I am genetically predisposed to kidney stones.

I figured it out, I was aware of the events that led to this outcome. Now what? What can I do? This is what I did to get back on track.

• Ate clean. Healthy breakfast smoothies, increased my daily intake of vegetables and fruits and
  did a 10 day eat clean cleanse – I felt fabulous!
• Hydrate. I increased my water intake to 4 litres a day and I gave up my beloved coffee. Even though I love it, it was making me unwell and causing harm and I refuse to let a substance do that to my body. I am worth more than that.
• Natural intervention. Being an ND gave me the knowledge to try many natural interventions- botanicals and complex homeopathics were very helpful for me.

• Exercise. I signed myself up for yoga class or a workout each day during my lunch break (I didn’t take a lunch break either, so I scheduled that in as well).

• Daily affirmation. Pulling inspiration from one of my favourites, I followed Louise Hay’s thoughts on kidney stones and repeated the affirmation daily. I even wrote it on my bathroom mirror to remind myself: “I
  dissolve past problems with ease”.

And asked myself “what do I want you to learn from sharing this with you today?”

Food for thought

Fresh and clean. Stock your house with healthy fresh food; it’s more likely you will only eat good food. Itʼs just
that simple!

Move your body. Whether you are a working mom or at home with young ones – move your body. Dance, walk or run.  Be less sedentary and increase your health and physical stamina.

Remind yourself. Daily affirmations and vision boards work incredibly well in helping us achieve our goals. If you desire to make changes in your life – affirm it by reminding yourself daily what it is you want to accomplish.

Listen. It is clear that we must choose to listen to the quieter messages that our body tells us about the state of our health as opposed to waiting for the screaming demands of a more serious diagnoses. Making yourself a priority doesn’t mean you are a bad mom or an unmotivated career woman. In the long run it means you will be more apt to handle these responsibilities with vibrancy.

I am happy to report that although diagnosed with a kidney stone I was able to treat and obliterate it naturally without having the uncomfortable experience of passing it. Today it is actually undetectable on both ultrasound and X-ray. Two huge thumbs up for naturopathic medicine!

I want to leave you with this question: if you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?

If you’re looking to make some changes come see me at the clinic. I look forward to working with you!

In great health & happiness,

Dr. Michelle Peris