Wise Women’s Festival
(June & July 2001)

Another switched photo from the original Issues Magazine as I could not find the original to post, instead here is me finding balance with Grandad Henry Brousseau. 

I am looking forward to just standing up as well as this Wise Womens event, as I missed the Spring Festival of Awareness at the end of April. I trust that the universe knows what it is doing, for I sure felt very unaware for someone who is so in touch with her guides and feelings. Hindsight is always one hundred percent and though the writing was on the wall, it never entered my consciousness that the fall I wrote about in the last Musings could have broken a bone. Not me, it was not possible, and on top of that, I had too much resistance to the established medical profession to ask for help.

The discomfort I felt was mostly at night and what I complained about most was lack of deep sleep. I took it as a sign that I needed to journal and release whatever the fall had shaken loose at an emotional level. Yes, slowing down was something I needed to do, and I had plans to do so, but first this or that needed doing. As you who attended the Festival will know, I fractured the ball joint off from my femur.

After waiting six weeks for my groin muscle to heal, and feeling my vitality draining, I knew something was wrong. I went to Pro-Physio and asked them to help me. They told me my leg was rotated and shortened and therefore my bone must be broken. I argued with them for twenty minutes and then something she said went ‘click’ and I knew they were right. I phoned and scheduled an X-ray for Monday, for I wanted to be present at the Spring Festival. On Friday I finished setting up the site and as people arrived and asked me how I was feeling, I felt like crying, so I asked a friend to drive me to the hospital and checked myself into emergency. The doctor and I both had our mouths agape as we looked at the X-ray. A short time later the surgeon arrived and said due to the length of time since the injury the ball joint was decaying and could not be pinned as was usual for this type of injury.

He would be back at 8 am to do a hip replacement and told the nurse to get me prepped. The operation did not go as planned, and when he pounded the prosthesis into my leg, it created a hairline fracture in my femur. More X-rays and a second operation followed putting wires around the cracked bone. That operation exhausted me more than the first one. After one week of complete bed rest, for the surgeon’s orders were not to let me move, even to go to the bathroom, I was told to get up and go home. After twenty X-rays all looked good. I was glad to go home but it was too much for my system and I felt sick to my stomach with a frontal headache. The fresh air felt great but all I wanted to do was to curl up In a ball and disappear.

The best thing I did for myself was to phone Dr. Alex Mazurin, my naturopathic doctor, who was kind enough to come and visit me on Sunday. He helped me to understand what was needed to speed the healing process was different than what my instincts told me. The smell of food made me nauseated so I was drinking lots of herbal tinctures to flush my kidneys and liver from all the morphine and drugs used during the operations. We talked about my diet and why the surgeon had said to me, “Your bones are soft. That is why they cracked.” Dr. Mazurin said, “Even though you are eating a lot of calcium-rich foods, if the body doesn’t have enough protein, it can’t lay down the calcium.” He then recommended that I eat two eggs and toast starting now and every morning for three weeks or so. I didn’t think I could keep one down, but I was willing to give it a try. One egg tasted so good that I ate a second one, and within two or three hours, my headache started to clear and by the next morning I felt better.

Since then, I have been rereading my nutrition books much more carefully. I now know that I need 50 grams of protein a day. My intake for some time has now probably averaged about 30-40 grams. Beans give me a lot of gas, so I have avoided them. Nuts, which I love, are hard for me to digest so I eat them in small quantities, the same with cheese because it creates mucus in my nose and throat. I figured I must be eating all right since I have lots of energy, enough to work seven days a week, twelve hours a day.

Since I don’t find meat all that appetizing and don’t want to cook it on a regular basis I am now going to try some of the powdered protein drinks. Having a shake made with fortified soy milk for one of the meals will help as I am finding it difficult to be hungry three times a day. Eating an average of 15-18 grams of protein at each meal seems a lot but I have increased my bean and dairy intake and will continue to eat fish once a week. I have let go of my resistance to eating meat and if I am eating out and someone has cooked it, I will try some.

The surgeon also pointed out that I was low in iron and gave me a transfusion of two pints of blood after the surgery. Dr. Mazurin advised me to eat more salt until my blood pressure comes closer to the hundred mark. I do use Celtic Salt, for it has all the trace minerals and certainly adds some taste to the eggs, as does the fresh pepper and buttered toast.

I feel great and have had no pain, never really did. My operated leg swells when I have been up for too long. So I use it as a barometer and this stage of healing, I can be up for about three hours and then need two hours with my feet up. There are many rules to follow once a hip is replaced. I will need to modify some of my yoga poses, for sitting in the lotus position is something I am told I will never do again, as is the forward bend, or touching my toes with my back straight. I am told these extreme movements could pop my hip out of the joint. Once my muscles have rebuilt themselves I will have to be very aware of all my movements and go slowly with how far I can stretch. I am sure looking forward to going for a walk and carrying my own food or things to the table. I have let go of my plans to organize the Holistic Health Fair in Penticton this July, as well as the new yoga studio that, just got finished. It will become a metaphysical book and gift store as the Juicy Carrot moves to the other side of the building and Issues Magazines moves back into where it used to be. Marcel and I have decided to let go of the Holistic Health Centre as it is now. A hope of mine would be for practitioners or doctors to join together to run it themselves. Otherwise, it is up for rent to whomever can use the space. If you are interested in co-creating with the people who are presently renting, please give us a call at 1-888-756-9929.

I have always trusted the universe. and I know deep inside that I will always be looked after. I am grateful that I went in to see the doctor before infection set in or I damaged a nerve. Up until now I prided myself that I never had an accident that hurt me, even though my car was hit by a transport truck and a speeding car on two separate occasions.

I am not a klutz, and tripping in my new hiking boots happened because of their poor design. When I talk to people they tell me they have done the same thing, but no one has complained to the shoe designers. Most work boots now have closed catches, for they were considered a hazard. Now it is time for hiking boot design to change as well. I would like to hear from you if you have fallen and could have hurt yourself. I feel these catches are dangerous and want them changed.

There is so much more to tell, and I shall as time and space allow. Thanks for sharing with me and for sending your good vibrations. It is easier to feel them, for I have noticed how much more I can feel with my heart. Three months of crying has opened up something inside of me that was closed earlier in my life.