Why Insanity is Relative

Growing up in rural Vancouver Island was a great experience. Lots of trees and forest to explore, and no cell phones, so kids had a real sense of independence.

During that time, my mom got sick. Over nine years she went to various doctors, but none of them could tell her what was wrong. I remember going to allergy screenings with her. She would tell me about how they did 'scratch tests' on her back, placing things like newspaper, cat hair and other common allergens on the scratches to see if it incited a reaction. Good thing she didn't tell them we had two cats at the time, or they would have said to give them away!

It was also at that time I discovered I had an issue with shots. Mom took me with her to get her weekly allergy shot when I was five. No one told me what was happening, but all I remember was seeing the needle go into her arm. Then I hit the floor. But I think I got ice cream later because of it... That was the last time I went with her.

After nine years of suffering, Mom came across a book written by Dr Jon Matsen called "Eating Alive" that described a patient that had the same symptoms she was suffering from. The doctors had told Mom she had ulcerative colitis. But Dr Matsen diagnosed this patient with a candida imbalance. That patient, under Dr Matsen's care and advise, was cured in three weeks.

So Mom changed how we ate. We became vegetarians. No more white flour, sugar, or dairy. And that was just life as I knew it.

School was another story. When I ate at home, I felt great. The Catholic private school I was attending by this point had milk days where you could buy little cartons of milk. I would buy these on occasion, but it always made me sick later. So I stopped.

When parents would carpool, my friends' parents would sometimes stop to buy us ice cream on the way home. They were puzzled when I would decline. What 11 year old doesn't want ice cream?!? I'm sure they thought I was crazy.

Meanwhile, my parents would come home from their government jobs and meditate each evening for about 30 minutes before dinner. This required absolute silence on my part, and I would play quietly in my room. Of course, most of the time, I would be on the phone when they got home. And so I would have to explain that my parents were going to 'take a nap' and I had to go.

No one talked about meditation, or even healthy eating. I don't even think doctors really even talked about how food affects your health. My mom had to figure it out on her own. And part of that occurred when she was at a supermarket and saw a woman in line ahead of her that looked radiant with clear skins and eyes, and shiny, healthy hair. Mom tells the story of how she wondered how this woman was so healthy, as her eyes dropped to the woman's purchases on the conveyer belt. All fresh fruits and veggies and whole grain items. No meat. No processed foods. And the lightbulb lit up.

For those of you not familiar with this part of Canada, Vancouver Island is kind of a hippy, new age mecca. So my parents did not have to go far to obtain this information that turned around a nine year illness in three weeks. However, it was not at all 'mainstream' like it is now. So small health food stores carried mostly bulk grains and sad looking, pesticide-free apples and veggies. The term 'organic' wasn't even really recognized by most.

Why am I telling you all this, you may ask? Because of my choice of the name of this blog. Because more people are questioning their doctors, rather than just agreeing with what they say. Because people seem to understand that injected antibiotics and growth hormones in their meat may not be good for you. Because no one used to think there was anything wrong with smoking. Because the majority of people in authority used to think the world was flat, and the sun revolved around it, and if you disagreed you were a heretic or insane.

And so, I give you "Insanity is Relative", inspired by the Ray Bradbury quote "Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage."

If you are interested in learning more about my mom's journey to health and beyond, have a look at her lovely website www.ullajacobs.com (which I just happened to design myself! :-)