Last school year I fell down half a flight of stairs, bruising my left hip. It was an accident where I was just happy I didn’t break anything. At age 63, I should have been more careful! X-rays indicated the need for a hip replacement but, since I’d been practicing self-care for the past fifteen years by using wellness products, I thought I already had everything needed for my body to heal itself.

I first started seeking healthcare solutions when my daughter injured her neck during gymnastics training. We went to numerous specialty doctors who recommended a variety of treatments but we saw no sustained progress for her pain management. I quit teaching to find a solution and discovered natural healing products that help the body function as designed. My daughter went through a healing crisis where she felt worse before she felt better but then she had less pain and then no pain. When her brothers saw the value, they also wanted these products. They experienced better alertness in school, speedy recovery from sports injuries, less sickness and permanent allergy relief. Amazingly, however, sharing our story has not attracted followers because of the “ask your doctor” mentality in our culture.

Part of my self-care includes hydrating with purified alkaline water, eating a plant-based diet, supplementing to build bones (prevent osteoporosis), getting deep sleep and exercising regularly. All this helped tremendously until I hit the floor again by horse playing students near the end of the school year. I could hardly walk due to the repeat impact to my hip. Chiropractic and massage worked wonders but were needed more often than insurance allowed.

We can’t repeat the same actions expecting different results, so I went to see a naturopathic doctor for cannabis. With a medical cannabis card, I made my own tincture, teas and biscotti. After two weeks on cannabis I could lift my leg

up to ride my bike when I couldn’t prior to the fall. I can’t recommend anyone make their own medicine due to the problems of pure sourcing, processing and dosing. I recommend using CBD transdermal patches because it has better bioavailability than when ingested. It also bypasses first pass metabolism in the liver, making it gentle for ages 2 and up according to the Natural Medicines

Database. It’s like a Band-Aid that dispenses a sustained dosage for 24 hours with no bad taste!

I love my retirement lifestyle of self-care. It provides daily motivation to be physically active and the mental challenge of choosing what to put into or expose my body to, as well as the “can do” spirit to help others do the same.