Welcome to my first post on FieldNotes from Natural Medicine blog.
I will be writing here about the Natural Medicine world, my own experiences in
the clinic and my reflections as a doctor, teacher, mother & wife. By
creating this space I look forward to taking time to thoughtfully examine life
through the lens of my beloved field. I know many of you are inundated with
things to read and keep up with; I hope you will find in these pages both
information you can use and maybe a bit of inspiration.
A family comes in to see me a few weeks back: an upbeat mom and her delightful 3 kids. When I see they are on the docket for the day, my heart lifts a bit. Healthy & robust, with a mother who is a good reporter and a positive person, I know my time with the family will be interesting and fun and a bit of a break from more seriously ill patients who make up an increasingly large part of my practice.
This family is one kind that I see day-to-day as a naturopathic
doctor, where they live a healthier lifestyle & want their medicine to
match that lifestyle. Other folks who come my way are more desperate,
looking for answers to medical problems that have not been helped. A third
group of people schedule to come in, those who have been referred by a friend or
family member because they know someone with a similar diagnosis who was helped
by me, in essence, they have only a minimal idea of what I do, but are happy to
have landed in my office.
When I go out to greet the family in our waiting room/play area
& to help mom back with her kids (& stuff!) I am delighted to see
child #4 added to the crew! Sitting, tiny and wrinkled, wrapped in a flannel blanket, is a little twelve-day-old brother to join his adoring sibs. Boy, Mom's
busy!
I enjoyed taking time with the mother hearing about each kid’s
development, illnesses from the previous year, and concerns about each
child, whether physical, emotional or developmental.
Having raised three of my own kids, I would not want to be
starting over again, but the welcoming another child into the world is such an expression of optimism and love, it was a highpoint of my clinic day. Using natural
medicines both as a preventive and when typical childhood illnesses arise, goes
a long way to building strong immunity & creating lifelong healthy habits.
With wishes for your good health & vitality.
Amy Rothenberg ND
