Side-effects

I'm lying in bed waiting for the allegy meds to kick in. I'm glad I have them, even though it means I'm going to be a little groggy and super dry most of the day. Neither side-effect is helpful when teaching voice lessons, but they are preferrable to the alternative which is blowing my noise for 3 minutes every 5 minutes to remove the gallons (maybe a slight exaggeration) of snot.
I'm also waiting for pain meds to start working. I only take them in the day time when the pain is bad enough that I'm willing to risk being nauseated and dizzy for a few hours.
I won't take you through my entire list of drugs, but hopefully you get the point. Anyone out there who preaches no meds, has never been miserable enough to need them. Generally I agree that singers should avoid anti-histamines if possible, using sinus rinses and other "natural" methods of keeping the airways free of allergens. But I would never tell someone to never use them, because they live in that body. They know how it responds, and they know what they can endure. I like my doctor's philosophy. He says that all drugs have bad side effects, but some if them also do something good.
Right now, I have two friends with cancer. One is doing chemo and radiation treatments determined to suffer whatever is necessary to beat the cancer. The other friend is halfway through her chemo, has never wanted it, but reluctantly agreed to it, and is considering stopping it. At first, I couldn't understand her perspective. She'd really rather gave cancer that a few months of torment? Her answer is yes, she'd rather have the cancer. The other day, when I was telling my mom about my friends, she said that if she was diagnosed with cancer, she might choose to just let it run it's course and live the rest of whatever time she had as fully as possible. It kind if surprised me, but once again reminded me that healing is not the same as curing, and each individual has to choose the path that is best for them. Only that person knows what it is like to live in that body, so only he or she can decide what is best for that body.
I'm glad that I live in a time when modern scientific medicine and ancient healing tecniques offer many options for coping with my challenges. I'm also working hard to remember to share what I know has worked for me, without implying that it is the one and only solution for everyone.



-- Posted from my iPhone