Never Give Up On Your Health!
By Tamara Lansdell

Hello my name is Tamara Lansdell and I would like to share my story of my own personal health journey in hopes to inspire people to never give up and always think and look outside the box when it comes to their health.
In 2016 after 18 months of one after another stressful situation I was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid. I saw a specialist that told me I had the beginnings of an autoimmune disease and there was nothing she could do, eventually my thyroid would burn out and I would come back then and be put on medication for the rest of my life. I left that appointment very raddled and with not a lot of information. (Lucky for me I grow up in a household that was very open minded and a mother that was before her time when it came to natural health products and eating.) As I left the appointment I decided before I had even gotten to the parking lot that I would make an appointment with a well-known homeopath to see if there was anything he could suggest. I was also very lucky to have a family Dr. that was willing to oversee alternative treatments as I had already discussed with her that I prefer to try alternative medicine before prescription dugs. (I do believe there is a time and place for all types of medicine). I saw the homeopath and the homeopathy he prescribed worked, it got my thyroid back into normal ranges. But I was still struggling with weight loss and keeping weight on. I started seeing an Acupuncturist (Chines Medicine Dr.) as well, she gave me some herbs and I stared having treatments once a month. As this was all happening my digestion started to give me trouble. I saw another specialist for that. He did a scope and a CT scan and everything came back fine. But I had pain when I ate. I saw an Integrative Dr. he said my symptoms sounded like low stomach acid. So off to the Naturopathic Dr. I went. She gave me stuff to help raise my stomach acid and digestive enzymes. I was also seeing a chiropractor once a month, it was very beneficial because she was very knowledgeable and was able to point me in the right directions for treatments.
18 months after seeing all the different types of Doctors and doing everything they asked of me I went back to the thyroid specialist. After she examined me, she said “your autoimmune does not look active at this time whatever your doing keep doing it”. I did not have to go back to see her, all I needed to do was go for my yearly physical and have the regular bloodwork done then.
This is what I learned from all of this,
-Get a really good family Dr. one that will be willing to work with other forms of medicine. If you’re not happy with your family Dr. find a new one. I know that its not always easy to do but you are worth it!
-Ask for copies of all our bloodwork/test keep it all in a binder and take it with you to all of your appointments with all your different practitioners. This way they can read the information, it makes their job easier and you get better care. If possible, I would also make copies for all my practitioners and give it to them to keep in my file with them.
-Not one Dr. has all the answers, sometimes one will say something and when you go to your next practitioner and tell them what the last has said it will trigger information for them. This can help you heal faster.
-The squeaky wheel gets the grease, if things are not working or you don’t feel right go back to your practitioners so they can refer you to specialist or tweak your medications/remedies/herbs.
-Remember its your body and only you know how you feel, you are your only advocate be tenacious about your health, your body loves you so love your body by listening to it and getting the help it needs to be healthy.
-Educate yourself, read, read, read also be open minded to other avenues of health care, you never know where you might get information from to help you with your health journey.

It is 2020 and I am doing great, I do not need all the remedies/herb that I was once on. I now follow a general health supplementation regime along with a healthy diet. I see my family Dr. yearly for my physical. I still do acupuncture and chiro monthly as maintenance (it just feels so good so why stop). This experience has taught me a lot about how our health care system in Saskatchewan works and how there is no hand holding you must be your own advocate; you must find practitioners that will work with you, you must be tenacious and if something is not working try other avenues to help your body become healthy.
Remember your body loves you so love it back by giving it the right tools to be healthy!

Thank you,

Tamara Lansdell