40 Miles Down The Path

Written by: J.D. Black | November 11, 2003

*Note: This is Jessica's second installment, a follow up to
The Long Road to Recovery.

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So here I am, over a year traveling down my path to non-toxic well being. The past months have been both very difficult and extremely rewarding. Trying to be chemical free in a contaminated world is challenging on good days, and impossible on others. It's a really rough road filled with obstacles and ruts, and just when I think I am winning this war, I fall head first into a pothole! Here are a few of the important things that I have learned:

• If you don't pack a lunch for work, you can forget about organic!
• Try and find a chemical free deodorant that actually works.
• Organic makeup is wonderful, for 1-2 hours before fading/smudging.
• Chemical free pest control can be quite a test of wills!
• Certain purely organic products can be hard to come by, expensive, or both (things like shampoo, conditioner, and fabric softener).
• You can't do henna over previously chemically treated hair, and I can't go to work looking like a calico cat while it grows out so I can switch!

Even with these trials and tribulations, since eradicating the cleaners and personal products loaded with dangerous chemicals from my life and replacing them with organics and essential oils, I have experienced a number of truly remarkable changes in my life:

• No signs of cervical dysplasia!
• Normal hormone levels, for the first time since I was 9 years old!
• No signs of ovarian cysts, no problems with periods or endometriosis!
• Milder and less frequent migraines, also for the first time since I was 9!
• Relief from rosacea.

Cervical Dysplasia

As a follow up treatment to the laser procedure that removed my cervical dysplasia, I was supposed to use a cream that would peel the formerly affected area. (Read "The Long Road to Recovery" for the first part of my story.) Not only was this a very unappealing idea, but the list of chemicals contained in this cream was extraordinary. Sha found some hopeful information on Melissa essential oil (Melissa officinalis), and I opted to try that first. After all, if it failed I could always try the hideous cream. The Melissa oil was diluted in jojoba oil for topical application, and it worked. My doctor was amazed when I told him that I had used Melissa instead of the prescribed cream, and he took a ton of notes!

Hormones

For the first time since I was a child my hormone levels are normal! I believe I owe this to Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea), which I have been using in essential oil, bath salt, and hydrosol forms. Now I cringe when I think of the many years that doctors had me on synthetic hormones in an attempt to regulate my system!

Ovarian Cysts & Endometriosis

No more cysts or painful endometriosis! Being free of synthetic hormones and having the lining of my uterus lasered off seems to have done the trick. I believe this is also a result of having normal hormone levels. The difference is so great that I rarely experience cramps anymore, and when I do they are very meek!

Migraine Headaches

Removing chemical-based cleaners and personal care products from my home has done wonders for my migraine headaches. It's obvious to me now that several of these products were triggers or intensifiers. Not only are my migraines far less frequent, but the severity and duration of them is downright mild in comparison! I believe that the normal hormone levels has helped with this as well. The wonderful Headache Helper essential oil blend formulated by my Urbane Apothecary Shoppe partner, Sha, has brought much comfort during those times a migraine does strike. It doesn't make them go away, but it sure takes the edge off. Now if I could just get people to stop wearing perfume!

Rosacea

I was told last year by my gynecologist at the appointment where my cervical dysplasia was discovered that I should have someone look at my rosacea. My what? Being traumatized quite enough at the time, I didn't (or couldn't) think much more about it. But over the past year, several people have commented that I looked like I was "getting too much sun". Anyone who knows me knows this is ludicrous, fair skinned redheads with freckles hide from sun! It was rosacea that I was still not really seeing myself. The sixth person that commented sent me running off to a dermatologist. After being diagnosed by the dermatologist and reading the standard treatment options, I voted myself off the island so to speak. I decided to look for an organic alternative to the antibiotics and chemical-laden cream the dermatologist recommended. Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum) hydrosol to the rescue! After only five days of use the rosacea has retreated from all over my face to just a small patch on each cheek and chin, and it disappears a little more with each day!

I might not be able to be 100% chemical free in this modern world, but that's okay. The occasional fast food meal, hair coloring, or use of bad mascara and eyeliner for special events is tolerable, unlike the shocking level of my former daily exposure to toxins. I'm convinced that you can eliminate MOST harmful chemicals completely, and drastically improve your health and quality of life, all while making it smell like the best of Mother Nature's bounty!