Mindfulness & Modern Medicine

 

    Suilad- 

        So, recently I've been struggling with a strange allergic rash outbreak. It started out relatively mild, but over the course of just a few days, became rampant across my entire body. At first, I thought it might be poison ivy, but I hadn't been in contact with any. Maybe that new lemongrass soap from the health store wasn't as gentle on my skin as the label suggested.

The reality was that my body was in distress, and no amount of Benadryl or hydrocortisone cream offered relief. I know what you're thinking: how does this have anything to do with mindfulness or medicine? Well, I was learning very quickly that if I wanted to accomplish anything with my day, I would have to will myself to do so.

Since just moving was uncomfortable, I could have easily justified laying in bed all day with cold cloths on my body. Instead, I decided that this discomfort wouldn't define me. I went to work for three days, covered in itchy skin that desperately wanted to be free. But I wouldn't allow my mindset to be in the same state of discomfort. I convinced myself that as long as I stayed busy doing something I enjoyed, I could push through it.

Until Thursday came. I woke up to the unpleasant surprise of my red, bumpy rash starting to peel and blister. This wasn't something I could comfortably expose to my coworkers, so I called in and took the next two days off to figure this out medically.

As a big believer in herbal remedies, which are the origins of many modern pharmaceuticals, my first course of action was to try my aloe salve. No luck there. Goldenseal and goldenrod didn't work either.

The following day, I had an appointment with my primary care physician, hoping to get some answers and solutions to my predicament. As soon as the nurse practitioner (NP) took a look at my arm, I believe the response was something along the lines of "Ouch, that looks angry!" After a brief examination, an exact cause couldn't be determined, so two more practitioners were brought in for a "guess the rash!" consultation. After a short discussion, it was decided that a scabies treatment followed by steroids would be the first line of action. The rash itself showed some similarities to what the scabies mite leaves behind.

Now, there's likely a stigma around catching scabies, and I certainly didn't want to be associated with it. Since I work around many people, encountering it at some point was inevitable. They explained that if that treatment didn't show promising results, another would be attempted. So, here I found myself in a sort of medical guessing game, hoping for answers. The medical team did their best to identify the rash and prescribe treatment. Their willingness to support me through it was appreciated.

I got home that evening and immediately began the ointment treatment. I spent the next 12 hours completely washing every piece of clothing or fabric I had come into contact with. Not the ideal weekend, and honestly, it triggered one or two breakdowns. The steroids definitely helped with my cleaning productivity, but it still sucked having to avoid any skin-to-skin contact with other humans, pets, or fabric. This was on my mom's birthday, no less.

As I wandered through my house trying to find anything to keep my mind occupied, I realized that even though my situation was less than desirable, I still had many things to be grateful for. This is where the mindfulness part comes in. Crying and pleading that "it wasn't fair" or "why me?" wasn't getting me anywhere but deeper into a mental spiral. So instead, I focused on thoughts like "thank you for my body, which remains healthy despite this" and "thank you for this moment of self-reflection." Because let's be honest, throughout life, a lot of crappy situations raise their ugly heads, and it's up to us, as the sentient beings we are, to interpret and process those situations. Instead of viewing this rash as an end-all, I tried to interpret it as a lesson in how neglectful I had been to my clear skin. I realized I needed to appreciate it more and be kinder to myself in the future. Just that shift in thought and use of language helped. Honestly, it did.

The next thing I knew, I was making popcorn, throwing on a movie, and belting out "Part of Your World."

Modern medicine is a valuable tool. It's helped humanity through countless crises. But I also believe there's just as much medicine and healing to be found in mindfulness. By being able to shift our painful thoughts into healing ones, and those of despair into ones of gratitude, we can find strength. So, as I push on through whatever this condition might be, I will do so with mindfulness and a bit of modern medicine too.