I think this is an appropriate title for a post on my birth month… I often asked in my previous experiences, whether as a student or an employee, “where’s the joy in this?” Nowadays, I just say it like a statement… “the journey I’m on has joy in it.” There will be sorrow and vices too, but the joy is always a part of this current journey. I have been encountering patients from all walks of life with various ailments in the medical field. We would write into their charts the story of their “history of present illness”. Mr. or Mrs. So and So suffers from _Blank_ or presents with X/Y/Z symptoms. Let me just say that we are creatures of habits, and we let the habits overrides our judgement overtime. Therefore, the medical system now has become more of a reactive system than ever! There’s a pill for every ill… Where did we go wrong and how was the joy lost? I’m speaking out on behalf of many medical practitioners who had become more jaded over the course of practicing medicine. But practicing is part of the joy! Sometimes we don’t have all the answers and the beauty of the journey is the joy itself in working with our patients to reveal the root cause(s) of their conditions that lead them to “dis-ease” in the first place. That’s the real joy in the medical field I still believe!

I will share a personal story here…. Over two and a half years ago, I discovered I have an autoimmune condition called psoriasis that doubled up on eczema, which turned out eczema runs in my family. Little did I know, it would wreck havoc on my skin, the biggest organ of the body! This all started simply after a series of stressful events on my mind and physical body, and the main one was a yard work injury that slashed my shin leading to cellulitis (a skin tissue infection) that required very strong antibiotics since the shin has so little blood supply for healing to take place. Thus, I ended up with a shock to my immune system because I was then quite antibiotic-naive. I hadn’t taken something that strong until that time in my life; antibiotics killed not only the bad bacterial skin infection, but also the healthy bugs/microbiome in my gut as well. This resulted in a leaky gut effect and a cascade of autoimmunity awakened next!

I struggle with flares of these rashes throughout the body ever since… When I went to different doctors, I would be told that I need steroid creams or meds to suppress my rashes. But then what, they would all simply return once the treatment ceases. I’m more interested in targeting the root cause(s). I think back at my very beginning training at the TrueNorth Health Center with water-fasting. Unfortunately, I’m borderline underweight, so I can’t quite perform this on myself yet. Next, I knew these rashes occurred during the middle of my training in functional medicine and I could utilize the tools to reset my gut from IFM. Now, I’m in my training with lifestyle medicine and have been using the principles of eating plant-predominant foods. Having the knowledge and the How-To without an environment that allows me to do so just wouldn’t line me up for success yet… Therefore, I’m still struggling with waves of rashes that wax and wane. Almost like this rash is trying to tell a story and a message that my body wants to give me… So, here goes the question again, “where is the joy?” Is it still in this journey?! Am I gonna be alright?… I find the joy in this journey that I walk, with my supporters, those who believe in me and give me the benefit of the doubt. Whatever I want to try next! As a saying goes… the world is my Petri dish; this time I am the experiment on that Petri dish; until I find the root causes and resolutions, I will continue to find the joy in my journey.

Recognize the joy in your journey too 🙂

Please watch this short video of my interview by Jeanne Schumacher on Simply Plant-Based: YouTube Link titled "Eczema and Psoriasis: A Healing Journey"