A Stroke in the Family
Effective Responses with Natural Medicine
by Thomas Stearns Lee, NMD
Bad news followed worse choices for my elderly father a few years ago. Local cardiac surgeons saw a good candidate for the “routine” procedure of stripping the carotid artery to improve blood flow to the brain.
My dad, Gilbert B. Lee, was an 82-year-old man who had undergone 3 weeks of intensive care in the previous month for a mild heart attack, testing, and intestinal bleeding from the aspirin-like medications he had been given.
Being a Naturopathic physician, I have written this article to reveal the consequences of some conventional modern medicine on an older parent, and the power of reactive Naturopathic medicine as practiced by me on my dad.
In February, Dad was presented with the finding that a carotid artery in his neck was more than 90 percent blocked. He was told that this operation was the best way to open it up. The risks involved, the physiology of a human circulatory system with 3 backup supplies to the brain, the dangers of the trauma and medications — these were not part of the information involved in the phrase “fully informed.”
During the procedure, Dad suffered a stroke. Some plaque material got loose and slid up to the right side of his brain and took him out. In a moment, elective surgery in a “modern” hospital did what the Nazis had tried to do for three and a half years in World War II combat. Dad was in rapid decline and it was time to throw some effective natural medicines into the fight.
At 6 hours into the experience, he was unconscious and comatose, with flaccid, or limp paralysis of his left side. Quickly, everyone started doing what they thought was best, and Dad was now the recipient of a biochemical onslaught. “Defensive” modern medicine led to expensive diagnostic imaging and blood tests. The hospital did enzyme and blood studies, CT scans, MRI’s, and whatever they could to help understand the condition and its cause.
The operation was done on a Friday, and the EEG studies of brain electrical activity were unavailable all weekend, so Dad was first hit with major anti-inflammatory drugs to control the brain swelling, so often a problem with stroke cases. My sister, who is a seasoned nurse, and I pointed out that he was in spasm and tetany which suggested that something else was going on.
A day later, on day three of the fight, electrical studies (EEGs) confirmed that he was in “status epilepticus,” or a seizure “storm” going on all over the brain. His recent bout of diuretics and heart regulators had affected his mineral balance, which I believe set him up for this reaction to the brain injury from the initial stroke.
The Intensive Care drug routine now was anti-inflammatories, more diuretics to spare the heart and lung, heart drugs to block Calcium, and Nitro variants to make the specialists less anxious about his heart rhythms. These were on top of a few extra drugs to shut off his panicky stomach and put him into a less fidgity sleep.
The medication chart read like a biochemistry mid-term. IV tubes were everywhere they could go, and the monitors cast a cynical green glow over the whole hi-tech show. Regular feeding was that delicious “Insure,” the contents of which read like “revenge of the hospital cafeteria.” I will get into what my return volleys consisted of, but I want to paint a fair picture of the situation, should you ever find yourself in a similar nightmare landscape.
The neurologist’s response to Dad’s seizure and steep decline was proposed to our family and reluctantly accepted. Seizure activity was damaging more of his brain than the stroke, and the plan was to shut off the “breaker” by using a strong mix of anti-seizure and sedative drugs to put him way down, and then to slowly withdraw these, hoping the brain would come back on without the seizure anymore.
On top of previous injuries and shock, this was like the lesser of two horror stories within a nightmare. We all discussed the options and agreed that a brain-dead “survivor” was unacceptable and would be to Dad also. So down he went, on schedule, with beeps and monitors fit for a submarines mission.
We were now five or six days into this and my natural medicines were being tucked into feeding tubes, and lotions on his skin. Energy medicines and homeopathics went into his water, and psychic healers were praying, chanting, and visualizing when I could get them in or near.
Daily visits from myself, my brother, and mom, alternated into a steady vigil. That got pretty frustrating at times, but it made a big difference in the recovery. I was able to consult with some of his doctors and got an okay to add some vitamins and amino acids to his feeding tube. I just took carte blanche to also use other things that MDs had felt were useless over the years. That being most of natural medicine, I didn’t feel limited, except from the better injectable herbal extracts.
When I had access to his feeding tube, powdered vitamins, amino acids, minerals, herbs, and digestive enzymes were all mushed into the gluey liquid food they were giving him. We haven’t time or the general interest for me to get too specific here. Luckily, he wasn’t having to taste it, and I enjoyed not having to argue him into everything.
I used a testosterone lotion, Homeopathy as Carbo Veg and Opium, and later with Sulfur and Arsenicum Album. The rubdowns included essential oils of Rose, Clary Sage, or Basil in a sesame base. Other key straight herbs were Gotu Kola, Siberian Ginseng, and Juniper. These helped lessen the Dilantin, Cardizem, and Lasix medications that were used.
This extensive routine was evidently helping as he soon “graduated” out of the Intensive Care into the regular wards. Over the next two and a half months, we kept up our regular visits, part clandestine natural foods and hormones, and intellectual nagging to bring back his breathing and speech abilities.
After 5 weeks, we noticed gains in left side coordination and balance, then standing and walking, and gradually his thought, memory and awareness. His memories of this period are blank until about 2 months into the project. His discharge from a local large nursing home was a strange event as he was going home, and younger residents than he just “didn’t do that” very often.
I would love to credit all this to Naturopathic Medicine, but there were higher powers at work, of course. One issue was that Dad didn’t want to go yet, and saw some work ahead of him with us, or within himself. The hospital side of it all was a mixed blessing, certainly some initially dangerous and greedy decisions, but also some caring and intelligent support among the nursing and allied staff.
Our spread of natural medicine was very powerful, but it was our emotional support and his spirit that made recovery possible. Now Dad is up and about, slowly losing his speech slur, while regaining some controls over his life. Five months later he is still improving, walking slowly, and regaining his intellect and humor.
With all the clinical science and natural medicines, I still don’t know how long or what quality of life remains for Dad. Who could? He is a lot closer to enjoying the consequences of his choices than he easily could have been. I’m glad to have him back, and I hope to get some repair energy really working for him. I confess to an interest in trying to learn from this what I can for my future and that of my patients.
My advice to the readers of this article who are noticeably getting older, is to think ahead and anticipate the times you will face. Get serious about avoiding toxins, addictions, and empty foods. Keep whatever power you have over your health freedom by becoming and staying informed. Don’t let the TV or media do that to you.
Steer yourself and your loved ones into a higher-energy lifestyle and a cleaner state of health. Any proactive gains now will be worth gold in whatever health circumstances you and your family will face.