My weekly column, translated from Magazine NARA Sweden. Hope you enjoy ♥
Proper nutrition, medicine, and love means everything for good healing
Mia Mattsson-Mercer knows what it takes to heal and regain strength. After she suffered in the same way that their dogs
down at the clinic did, it became even clearer.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
In my work we save sick dogs found on the street or in various types of shelters. I have to be quick to rule out problems to get to the actual situation when it comes to assessing dogs' symptoms. I use my intuition and knowledge to read the animal energies.
One of the most common conditions we treat dogs for in our hospice is Lyme disease. First, we test our new dog clients to see if they have Lyme disease. The test, called "snap" test is quick and is done using a few drops of blood on a small tray-formed tool.
Lyme disease is one of the most common diseases that dogs down in southern Italy are carrying. Symptoms include joint pain, pain and tenderness in various parts of the body as well as skin irritation. In addition, the disease can cause the dogs to be timid against bright light. They also eat less, or not at all. In most cases, my gut feeling is right and we can quickly address the Borrelia/Lyme disease with antibiotics.
A canine’s response is outstanding. They have one goal and that is to become healthy. Dogs do not want to be a burden or a threat to their pack, whether the herd is made of two-legged or four-legged individuals.
The dog comes to our hospice for treatment with the right kind of medication. Furthermore, they are helped by the healthy food and opportunities to be together with volunteers who love them dearly.
Proper medication, healthy food and love for fast healing. This is a combination that our own health care should try to take into greater account.
I cannot help but smile at my own situation right now. At the moment I am sitting in a beautiful treatment room and receive intravenous antibiotics three hours each day for five days. I have been sick for over a year with a diagnosis of Lyme disease. I have the same symptoms as my own four-legged clients down in Italy. I have pain in the joints, extreme sensitivity to light, I’m irritable, have headaches and skin irritation.
My husband joked with me and said that I probably should move down to my own hospice for faster results and more understanding!
No doctors that I have met have wanted to take Borrelia seriously even though the disease is one of the most common in our society today. Many doctors blame the symptoms on “burnout”, rheumatism, “stress”, or that "it's all in your head."
Health care for people has become worse. Analgesics and happy pills prescribed to younger people. They mask the problem whilst “treating” the symptoms. Even the dogs have started to receive happy pills instead of true treatment for the underlying problem.
The doctors I have met have wanted to prescribe painkillers for me. A doctor told me that my body was depressed! The next doctor said that my problem was in my head! I refused to take the pills despite terrible pain. I am extremely afraid of becoming dependent on the pills and accepting the pain and stopping searching for the right doctor and the right cure.
I smile at how fast I and the veterinary team are to take Lyme disease blood tests on dogs. With successful treatments we quickly get them healthy, often within two weeks. But people can go on for years before any doctor does a Lyme test.
We dog owners can even vaccinate our pets against Lyme disease at the American base. When I lived in the U.S. we had our dogs vaccinated against the U.S. Borrelia each year. Yet, not people!
Is it that we humans confuse our doctors with our descriptions of all the different symptoms and that is why we are sent to several different specialists? Or is it the economy? The animals do not communicate verbally, but the vet often goes on their sense combined with knowledge. Could it be a small part of the development?
After a year, I have now found a clinic that cures Lyme disease and that takes me and other people from all over the world seriously. Moreover, they have the same concept that we have at our hospice. Right medication, healthy diet and love from the staff. They say, "you know your body best, listen to your symptoms and do not give up."
That's Amore!
Mia Mattsson-Mercer
