Since wrapping up all of my treatment for breast cancer in late November of 2012, our family has been focusing on trying to live and eat better. I don't know what scientifically caused my body to generate cancer cells, even though I am the fourth generation in my family to have cancer. However, I do know that I need to take better care of the only body I will have here on this earth, because unfortunately there is not a trade-in policy or warranty on the ones God gives us! Nor can I get away from this body He gave me to take a vacation, so I must treat it with care if I want it to last!
That being said, we made some changes in our eating habits. We were already using more friendly cleaners and laundry detergent, and trying to be more conscientious of where our food was coming from. Then in January my mother-in-law was diagnosed with type II diabetes, which meant learning a whole new way of eating, cooking, and well, living. It also meant trying to find something we could all eat, enjoy, and get the necessary nutrition out of in our family of 5-which includes 2 picky eaters(my husband and son), 2 thin children (same son and my daughter), a type II diabetic grandmother who loves food(my MIL#1), and me(the post-cancer, underweight all of my life until radiation started, and lover of just about any food).
If that in of itself wasn't enough to make most people run away screaming in terror, we each have our own share of physical ailments. Trust me people, I could write several books on the adventures we've had! To just give a sampling, and explain why the discovery of what essential oils could do has been monumental, I will give just three things per person that our family members suffer from:
Tim Rachel(me) Mercy(our daughter) John(our son) Diana(aka Grandma)
asthma breast cancer allergy to cats dust & pollen allergy asthma
3 knee surgeries fibromyalgia allergy to red dye#40 allergy to red dye#40 chronic bronchitis
3 back surgeries psoriatic arthritis nosebleeds sinus issues type II diabetic
So needless to say, everyone in our family has been on several medications for quite a while now, and the two most prevalent issues we deal with are headaches and sleep problems (insomnia, sleep apnea, etc). Of course, all prescription medications have side effects, so we end up taking meds for the side effects and those cause side effects, and they lend to other diseases, syndromes, etc. Its a vicious cycle people! And I wanted off the merry-go-round!!!!!
I love how God hears the cry of His people, and I bet He was thinking mine was getting a tad bit loud. So He sends along a friend I go to church with, Josie Jones, who tells me in passing about these oils she is using in her family, especially for her daughter's newly diagnosed type I diabetes. I'm intrigued. A little time passes, where I'm desperately learning how to cook and prepare meals for a diabetic. Then my cousin's little boy ends up in the hospital with RSV and an ear infection. I see Josie mention to my cousin's wife about these oils again. Now I'm very intrigued, because we've been swapping sinus infections around in our house like its a bowl of delicious, buttery popcorn. So I tell Josie I want to know more. She hooks me up with the facebook group The Lemon Drop Lounge (formerly Granola Oils) and I start learning all kinds of stuff! I even find friends in the group that I've known for six+ years. God knows how I love irony, obviously since He made me!!!!
I am no stranger to essential oils. Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I had a business called White House Label where I made organic cleaning products, organic lotions, and other organic skin products using essential oils. However, I didn't know anything about using the oils topically or internally, so a whole new world opened up for me! I felt like Dorothy walking out of the crashed house into a technicolor world. In one day I read ever blog post on the Granola Convert blog and every post on the facebook page, plus I checked out Young Living's website. Oh yeah, I was hooked, baby! We decided to go for it and order the Essential Oils starter kit (thank God for timely tax refunds!) and take our family on a whole new journey. It also helped that I already had some essential oils on hand, although they weren't the quality of Young Living's nor were they ingestible. But I was the one who'd just taken hold of that lovely bowl full of buttery popcorn and had a sinus infection that just wouldn't let go, even with OTC meds. So lavender and eucalyptus became my constant companions for three days. I saw a noticeable difference, and not so calmly awaited the arrival of my Young Living essential oils packet.
Well yesterday, people, Christmas came to my house in the shape of a rectangular box! I was so excited! And chased my husband around the house when I learned he had already brought it in and opened it without telling me it had come. He's sneaky. Don't trust him unless you have something in hand to throw at him, lol! Anyway, Monique had also just posted in the Lemon Drop Lounge a pdf file telling 110 uses for the 7 oils that came in the starter kit. In true OCD fashion, I picked a certain color for each member of the family, plus a separate color for household and sleep, then I set about highlighting each of the uses that pertained to specific members of our house. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm slightly crazy, but unlike most people I have a legit excuse, called chemo brain. If you refer to any time before chemo(pre 01/12) then I'll come up with another viable excuse, I assure you.
I digress, another one of my famous attributes. So last night we were all eager to try our oils. First Tim was the guinea pig, and rubbed peppermint oil, diluted with olive oil, over his stomach. I did the same. We've both been having digestive troubles this week, so it was important to start there. Immediately our sinuses were opened, too. Finally I could breathe! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In about thirty minutes we could taste the peppermint on our tongues. Isn't the human body amazing? Then we tried the lemon oil in a glass of water. The smell is amazing, but the taste is nowhere near as strong as I assumed it would be in relation to the smell. But once it leaves your tongue, there is a surprising clean, fresh feeling left behind. It is also warm and soothing as it travels down the throat. Amazing!
At bedtime, Grandma came first to get whatever was deemed necessary for her to get a good night's rest. She used 2 drops of Peace & Calming on the bottoms of her feet, and rubbed the remainder on her shoulders. She didn't care for the smell, I believe her actual words were, "Ewww! It STINKS!". Haha, gotta love that lady! She also used a drop of Purification on the side of her neck, because she has still been having a sore throat from her bought with the bowl of buttery, tasty popcorn called sinusitis, bronchitis, and asthma. She also put a drop of Lavender on her pillow, which of course sent the children clamoring for some on their pillows, since our daughter claims she is an insomniac, although I tend to think she just loves to read as much as her mother and looks for any excuse that will do. So they each had a drop of Lavender on their pillows.
Tim has sleep apnea and spends most of each night snoring. Sigh, I remember a time when neither of us ever had an incidental snore, much less chronic snoring. Ah, those were the days! He also has a lot of pain in his knees from an injury when Mercy was a year old, and for which he has had 3 knee surgeries, causing a lot of stress on his other knee to make up for the strain. So, like a loving, kind, adorable wife I pretend that someday I will be, I rubbed olive oil with Valor on both of his knees and both of his feet. I even put socks on his feet for him! Aren't you impressed? If you know me, you should be. I don't like touching other people's feet. Like, ick!
So, finally it was my turn. I used the Valor for my own feet and put on socks to sleep in (*shudder*). I swear my feet are clausterphobic and don't like things encasing them where no air can be reached! I rubbed the remainder on my joints and along my jaw line. Plus I put some Lavender on my temples and my pillow to help me relax into sleep, which is always hard to do for me, because my brain is wired and coming up with wonderful creations which of course I've forgotten by the time I wake up the next morning.
The results, you ask? Oh my, they were better than I hoped for! It did take me a little while to go to sleep, but that is mainly because I kept listening to know if Tim was snoring or not. Funny, I know, but I am that way. But I promise you the man DID NOT SNORE all night long! He snorted lightly once when turning over and near 5am he started heavy breathing like he does right before he begins snoring, but then he turned his head slightly and stopped that. This is the first night in many, many months he has not snored without the use of his CPAP machine. We want to find out if he can put any of the oils in that, but with it being plastic, I don't know. I slept well, enjoying the warm, tingly feet even if they were wearing socks, which I did not yank off like I do most nights I try to sleep with socks on. I also woke up at a reasonable hour for me and used a touch of Peppermint to help me wake up. Grandma slept well and took Lemon to work with her for her water and tea, as well as some Peppermint on a handkerchief for her office. I assume by all of the joyous sounds coming from children today, that they slept well. I have to admit I am looking forward to trying the oil on them that was mentioned for "overactive children"...
Therefore I think it safe to say we are quite pleased with the result of Day 1 of our new adventure. If you want to know any more about the essential oils, then message me on facebook or email me @ spiceyourspace@yahoo.com. Hope you enjoyed reading an exerpt from our crazy life!
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