On December 11th, 2018, I had just finished writing a birthday message to my sister and was heading to bed, when I realized the dog needed to go out. So I threw on my coat and went out in my croc slippers to let him relieve himself before turning in for the night. On the last step, my right foot didn't land squarely. A past torn ligament on that ankle left my ankle loose and unstable. My right foot turned over onto its side as I stepped down a full step onto my ankle. It couldn't hold me and so I fell onto my other foot that wasn't planted yet. Ouch! Both feet were giving that deep complaint that comes from a serious injury! "Ow, ow, ow, ow... ' was all I said for a full minute. Cosmo looked at me from the end of his leash and refused to pee. He just came in close to try to comfort me. I wasn't ready for anything to touch my feet or legs, but I talked to him softly to reassure him. I knew Lance was just on the other side of the door. I just needed to get his attention. The night was so silent around me. It was after 11 pm and I was so aware of neighbours sleeping that I didn't want to yell too loudly. I used a medium voice:
"Lance!" Pause. "Lance!" Quiet voice: "It's okay, Cosmo... we're going to be alright." I don't know if I said that for his benefit or mine.
No response from inside. The night was a soft chill, not harsh cold. The silence was broken only by a gust of wind. I was not cold. My feet gradually stopped screaming at me and I tested my left foot for holding some weight. I couldn't move anything on my right foot. The left foot could hold me enough to help me slide backwards up the porch stairs to the front door. My butt skooch maneuver got me close enough to grab the door handle and push the door open. I then could talk to Lance! Relief flooded through me. I had help!
Lance helped me get into the couch and put a blanket over me. I started to tremble from head to toe. We both recognized shock setting in. My teeth were chattering. I asked Lance to get me my essential oil kit. I couldn't remember which oil was best for shock, but I know lavender and frankincense were both calming oils. I put a swipe on my wrists and inhaled it then put some on the base of my skull. Gradually the shock wore off. I took an ibuprofen and applied oils that help with injury to the swollen ankle and minor cut. It was now midnight and I felt like if I could get upstairs to bed, I could sleep. My heating blanket was up there. I butt skooched to the top of the stairs painstakingly slowly. Lance was hovering over me like a guardian. I love him!! I put wintergreen, cedarwood, stress away essential oils in my diffuser and had it going all night. I slept soundly without too much discomfort. When I had to use the bathroom, I rolled over in the office chair.
The next morning, Nate and Lance fireman carried me to the car to get to a walk in clinic for an x-ray. Lance brought a wheelchair to the van and I managed to slide down into it. After several hours, I was told it was not broken, just a bad sprain. They got me fitted for crutches and I was glad to leave the wheelchair behind and head home. I again got out my oils and looked for all the injury helpers I could find! Panaway, Frankincense, Copaiba, Helichrysum, Marjoram - thankfully I keep many in rollers and a muscle rub cream so they were ready to use. Four days later, the swelling was reduced, I could put some weight on the injured foot. I was impressed with how few pain killers I required. Until of course I added in dental surgery.
I hobbled into the dental office on my crutches. Might as well get it all over with at once while I'm already slowed down. The gum graft surgery was a little nasty, but I wanted to continue to take a natural approach to healing. So, I took a risk and decided to avoid buying the antibiotic mouth rinse since antibiotics are so hard on my sensitive system. I had bought an extra bottle of essential oil Thieves blend mouthwash to experiment with first. I could always pick up the prescription if I found tissues were sore or irritated and it wasn't healing well.
I've been impressed with my experience. I have had very little pain, my gums are healing super fast and the only irritation came from the threads from the stitches poking into my lip and on the roof of my mouth. My surgeon mentioned that the threads could be clipped shorter if I found them irritating. So today I called his office and asked if he could ease the poking with a trim so I could enjoy Christmas with less irritation when I talk and eat. He invited me to just come to the office today and he would fit me in.
Then I got nervous. Would he feel like I had disregarded normal protocols? Were things healing as well as they seemed? Would the gums adhere well to the teeth when I was using a totally different approach?
It was time to find out.
Today was the first time I could put a boot back on my injured foot and walk without crutches. My limp is barely noticeable.
I was called into the inner room and sat in a dental chair. When I opened my mouth, he quickly surveyed the gum tissue and asked me when the surgery was performed. I told him that this was day five since the gum graft. He said the stitches on the roof of the mouth could come out because the tissues had totally healed together and looked healthy and pink. He pulled an assistant over to show her how healthy the gums and tissues looked at day five. He asked me again what I had been doing. I had cleared using essential oils with him on the day of the surgery, and he said he was fine with experimenting, but he was really impressed with the results. He said it seemed too early to take out the stitches on the site where the new gum was grafted, but the tissues were healthy, pink and almost better. He made me much more comfortable by shortening the bits of thread so they no longer poke my lip.
I'm so relieved and happy that the essential oil routine I made up has made the surgery so much less invasive and uncomfortable. And I am so grateful for a surgeon who was so helpful, open and capable. Thanks, Dr. Fortino! And thanks, Young Living for training me to feel more confident in natural approaches to my health and providing oils I can trust for injuries, recovery from surgery and winter colds and flu bugs
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