Herbal Studies

[frustratedearthmother]

So sorry to hear that - but glad it wasn't worse!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Learn, learn, learn and yet I still don't feel like I can disappear in the woods with a good field guide and come back with 30 or so identified new plants. Thus far, my studies didn't take me there. Okay.....I probably live just about as far south, as it is possible to live in the US, so you know its usually quite warm and always pretty much green. I mean, I REALLY have some vegetation to identify. I use to think I knew more than the average about plant identification. I know about 500 X's more today than I did a year ago and I still don't know &^%$. I"m probably living right on top of a huge herbal garden, planted by the hand of God and I know next to nothing about what He planted where; let alone how I can use it. I'm gonna share these thoughts with my local like minded people and see if I can get a party going. If I can get a group of about 7 really good plant nerds, maybe I can learn a few things.

 

[so lucky]

Rhoda, maybe there is an old "healer" around. I don't know how you would find her, or him, except to ask around. But I envision the South as having a "Poke Salad Annie" around to ask about herbs. If that is stereotyping, I only mean it in a good way. Oh, and Dawn has mentioned that she can identify a lot of plants and herbs. Maybe she needs to lead a plant hunting expedition. That would be fun!

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I've known treaters as a child. I know one now, but she is a faith healer. We have a name for them, but I can't write in French.
In the absence of a treater, I asked my neighbor, who is a member of our local Indian tribe, The Houma Nation, if she can hook me up with a medician man/woman who wouldn't mind talking to me. She is supposed to fix me up with someone who is on their council, who might know these things.
I'd be very happy to host a nature walk if I can get a dozen or so people in the know together....I'd buy the gatoraid.
If I'm really lucky, my next batch of books will have one on plant identification, but I really don't think so. I think I will have to finish the program and put this on my personal agenda.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

My godchild has bronchitis.....at the very least. She just finished antibiotics and came over for me to assess her. She already took all the meds she felt she could take. I gave her an herbal tea and pulled out the books. We decided on an onion poultice on flannel to the chest. We have a few more minutes until the half hour is up. Godchild is completely humored by me. She told her mom that I'm enjoying this way too much.

 

[baymule]

Be sure to let us know how she is doing. I have been following your herbal journey. As a kid, I traipsed all over the woods trailing behind my grandpa. He taught me some herbals, because that's all his mother had to treat them with. In the spring, she would make mullien tea for him to break fevers. I Know what you mean about standing in the middle of a herbal garden planted by the hand of God.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

When I was working with her, she stated that she felt like she had just had a breathing treatment, but without the shakes. When we lifted the poultice, her chest was red, but we already expected that. Trouble is, she isn't my child. In fact, she isn't even a child. She left me, went home and didn't do another thing for herself, attempted to go to one of her classes at the university and was told by the professor to leave the class. She is now at home, taking the first breathing treatment since last night. Not that what I did for her didn't work, but when you seriously ill, you can't just expect to do one little treatment and think it didn't work because you didn't continue pampering the disease process. I love her and all, but I can't agree with everything she does. When I was working as a nurse, I liked to fix little things. That was because little things become big things if you ignore it long enough. I can even fix big things, but its not just what I see about myself....if I give you a list of 5 things I want you to do for yourself and a certain amount of time with which to do it and nothing has happened since my implementation, then enjoy being sick. So honestly I can't say its a cure for a chest cold, but then again, going by what she claimed at the time and the decrease in coughing at that time, I'd have to say it is a worthy treatment. I'd be willing to try it again.....hopefully on someone that would also continue with herbal teas, use lots of medicinal herbs in food, use steam, back clapping and aroma therapy along with the poultice. I don't think there is any one fix, except to not allow yourself to become sick in the first place. Kinda frustrated.

 

[baymule]

Hey, you tried. And she did show improvement. The thing with "modern" medicine is that we expect to go to the doctor and get a magic pill to fix it NOW! Herbal and preventative medicine is slower and is not an instant fix.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

She did come back to me yesterday pm after a breathing treatment. I gave her mucus relief tablets, with goldenseal and echinecea and warmed her up some soup I had frozen, but I added sage, thyme, garlic, cayenne, ginger, rosemary and maybe another thing or 2, I can't recall. Then I suddenly remembered DH being sick and me learning that horseradish had antibiotic properties, so I gave her a little prairie hen with a mixture of chili sauce and horseradish. Things started moving around after that. I listened to her lungs, which were much clearer than the previous night and I told her so, but I advised her how very sick she was and if she was going to handle it, she had to do everything I was writing down. I wrote her some orders, on a blank MAR (medication administration record) I had.....some herbal and some medical. I also wrote a list of herbs I wanted her to add to whatever food she ate in the days to come.
This morning she texted me that she was seen in the ER and does have pneumonia. No big surprise there. I advised her that nothing has changed. I still want her to do everything I wrote down, unless its a repeat order......such as don't double the mucus relief or breathing treatments.
Today she has a fire under her butt. Apparently she is convinced that she needs to take the AC's out the house because they must be full of mold.

 

[Wannabefree]

Wow...out with the AC's in Louisiana, she is one brave woman!! I hope she gets better, and hope the treatments you are giving her helps