A Medical Intuitive Predicted My Health Problems: Here's What I Learned

Just an hour earlier, my fiancé had asked if I could take his appointment with a medical intuitive, since he was stuck at work. "A what?" I asked. "Just go," he encouraged. "It's cool. She's like a health psychic." I accepted his offer not because I had any medical concerns but because I was curious. What the heck would she have to say to me? Newly engaged after being a single mom, I was feeling happy, healthy, and invincible.

Finally, she spoke: "It's such an honor to be in your presence. Your organs are remarkably clean." I felt proud and vindicated that all that exercise and my organic lifestyle had paid off. Then the next sentence struck: "But I have to tell you that your skeletal structure is breaking down." What? She proceeded to give me advice on how to cope when my now-inevitable skeletal collapse occurred. For me, a college professor and independent single mom, her words felt completely foreign. Nothing she said had any bearing on my current blissful, healthy reality. Yet, ever the good student, I dutifully took notes, which I shoved in my backpack at the end of our session as I skipped out the door toward my future.

Thanks to my perennially messy backpack, I was able to unearth the piece of paper with the advice I'd halfheartedly scribbled down during our chance meeting. As a strong, athletic woman who took pride in her independence, most of this advice had meant nothing to me when I was healthy. But when my injuries began, I started referring to them often. I'm passing them along, because you never know when you might need them!

I was so compromised by my injuries that I had no choice but to follow this tip. I spent a lot of time on crutches, which forced me to accept help with driving, shopping, and other daily chores. On the positive side, my five children learned to step up and help, whereas in the past, I tended to do more for them than was necessary.

Everything from sleeping to getting in and out of a car was incredibly painful. Motrin, Arnica, body pillows, Epsom salt, ice packs, and a heating pad all played a role in my attempt to reduce pain.

Understanding that support isn't just physical took a little while for me to come to terms with. But when I did, it was key to my healing process.

I resisted the reality that my hectic, overloaded lifestyle undermined the healing process. I kept trying to power through my regular high-stress routine of packing too much into a day with no downtime, but it simply didn't work. I couldn't get better until I broke away from my stressful habits, such as working late hours, running around trying to please everyone, and always trying to maintain that competitive edge. Instead, I recalibrated and adjusted my goals to include mindful breathing, time outdoors, and a good night's sleep!

When I felt hopeless and ravaged by back pain, the advice to look beyond traditional medicine and locate practitioners who were most effective was invaluable. Standard rehab didn't help as much as I'd hoped, so I tried massage, cupping, acupuncture, and a variety of alternative approaches. I learned who and what made me feel better. In the early stages, it was exhausting, expensive, and demoralizing, but through trial and error, I figured out that a combination of acupuncture and light exercise helped me recover with very little residual pain.

The path to well-being isn't always interesting or exciting, but I paid attention to how my body responded to certain exercises, and I stuck with the successful ones.

At one point, I was told to do a very limited and boring back exercise called the "arch and curl" five times a day. The first day, it felt ridiculous, but then I noticed that the pressure on my inflamed sciatic nerve was decreasing every day. I listened to my body and now stick with this very basic exercise when I feel my back flare up.

My commitment to healing extended beyond the pain-management stage. After trying out various exercise programs, I found that Pilates was my route to strength, flexibility, and stress relief. Integrating a regular Pilates practice into my life is a lifelong expression of my deep commitment to healing on many different levels.

The guidance I received from my chance encounter with the medical intuitive was a great comfort when I was grappling with the shocking experience of being physically compromised. Was she really psychic, or did I simply receive a list of practical truisms? In the end, it doesn't really matter. She gave me excellent advice that I had no idea I would desperately need.