My wisdom teeth made me chronically ill?

It felt like we were back to square one, and my mom spent hours researching, and talking to family members and friends. We had a friend that went through a similar situation with their daughter. She went to the Mayo Clinic, an extremely acclaimed clinic in Minnesota, and they diagnosed her with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and was put on a biologic, and it practically drove her insane.

She was being treated by some of the most renowned practitioners in the United States, and even there she was being taken advantage of. They were looking for an alternative route of medicine and stumbled across a homeopathic internal medicine doctor, that uses vitamins and natural treatments instead of typical pharmaceutical drugs. She went to this doctor, and they completely healed her from her previous state. When I heard this I wanted to pack my bags and fly out to Colorado immediately for treatment. However, my mom felt with a major Chiropractic college near our house, there must be an integrated medicine doctor somewhere in our area.

We had some luck when my Mom stumbled across Dr. Simon Yu of Prevention and Healing. When describing his practice Yu says, “Prevention and Healing clinic weaves traditional internal medicine with the highlighted use of alternative and complementary medicine to use the best each has to offer. The evaluation methods we use offer a glimpse into the body’s energy systems and biological terrain. They examine the “fitness” and climate of internal organs and systems from a unique perspective. Unlike conventional medicine, they uncover the informational clues necessary to determine the proper therapies-with the long-term goal of good health rather than mere elimination of disease. Good health transcends an immediate disorder to maximize the body’s psycho-neuro-endocrine immune system and reduce the possibility of serious disease over one’s lifetime.”

I truly felt we had found something. A glimmer of hope for my health and future emerged, so we booked an appointment. They took us later on that week, a dramatic change from the three-week wait at other doctors’ offices. On the Prevention and Healing website, it outlines the process Dr. Simon Yu uses to evaluate the causes of the chronic illness. He uses several tests and the process of Acupuncture Meridian Assessment (AMA) to localize the cause of the illness. AMA involves holding a cathode connected to a computer system while Yu takes another cathode and touches the meridian points on your hands and feet related to all of the systems functioning in your body.

By sending the current from the meridian point through your body to the receiving cathode in your hand, the computer registers the strength of the connection. If the system is functioning properly, the current runs right through. If the current is blocked, it is highly likely the system it is related to is compromised in some way. He believes by finding and treating the cause, the body heals itself instead of masking the symptoms with multiple drugs.

At my first visit, Yu tested the ph of my saliva, ordered blood tests for food allergies, and cut a hair sample for vitamin, minerals and metal levels testing. Those were sent off for lab work, but in the office, he completed an AMA that revealed I had a blocked meridian current for dental. With this revelation, Yu determined I had a dental infection in my wisdom teeth area. A panoramic xray of my jaw line confirmed this. He pointed out in the x ray that in my lower jaw, my wisdom teeth had already begun growing in towards the roots of my lower teeth and because they had nowhere to go, they were impacted and pockets of infection developed around the area.

It wasn’t because of JRA that I was sick all along, it was because I had been swallowing the infection repeatedly and it was making me ill. Poison was leeching into my system at all times of the day, and without the elimination of the infection I could have gotten sepsis. After the visit with Yu, one astounding realization plagued my mind.

I took chemo for nothing. I ruined my life for nothing. I lost my life for nothing.

Of course I was bitter, yet I knew that despite the speed bumps to my medical recovery, I had a new future awaiting me. Finally, a doctor who wanted to treat the cause of my illness instead of the symptoms. I could return back to my life again, and I truly had never been happier.

Within a few days, I visited an oral surgeon that confirmed Yu’s findings and my family and I decided it was time to have my wisdom teeth removed to clean out the infection. The surgery was an involved process that took a total of three separate surgeries to completely remove all of the infection. I was on strong antibiotics and antifungal medicines to clear the infection for good.

While healing through my surgeries, I followed up with Yu on my bloodwork and hair sample testing results. The tests determined that I am allergic to many of my favorite foods – all kinds of beans (including coffee- no more fancy lattes for me ):  ), tuna, broccoli, cod, egg yolk, sesame, soy, garlic and spinach. Yu said that by removing these foods from my diet, the inflammation should settle down and I should begin to feel stronger.

The hair sample testing revealed I had an off the chart level of calcium and that the overload was building up in my joints because my body didn’t know how to rid it correctly in this excessive state. The calcium was causing my joint pain, not JRA. Dr. Yu prescribed some homeopathic drops and vitamins to help rid the calcium in my system. With eating clean and avoiding my allergy triggers, the drops and vitamins, it took me about two months to rebuild my strength, focus and stamina to be able to function like a normal person again. Within a few months of healing I was able to return to school, and properly start my sophomore year.