Meet my favorite clients: HUNTER (the heir)
What happens when you give a ten year old boy colon cleanse pills before bed, then send him off to school the next morning?...
He comes home really mad at you.
The oldest of four, this kid was, by default, my guinea pig.
When Hunter was in 5th grade he started complaining of stomach pain and wasn’t having regular bowel movements. Naturally, I assumed he was constipated and decided to start him on a colon cleanse.
When that didn’t ease his pain, I figured he must have a really stubborn blockage so I took the next step and administered an enema.
As it turns out, the kid wasn’t suffering from constipation; instead, he was experiencing anxiety.
It’s safe to say that all the colon cleanse formulas and enemas in the world were not going to cure that!
Sorry son.
Back then, I assumed every physical ailment was to due a physiological problem. I hadn’t yet discovered how emotions play a role in our physical health.
In hindsight, it seems obvious that this young boy was having anxiety. For years he’d been watching me drag myself around with a nebulizer for breathing while rubbing ice on my skin to alleviate burning hives.
Because I was always sick, Hunter took on the responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings.
He’d wake himself up for school, help make sure the other kids were dressed and fed, then walk them all to the bus stop. After school, he’d make sure they were on the right bus, then walk them home again.
I know he was sent to our family first because he was the one who could handle it.
Years later, after learning about emotional stress, I practiced several techniques with Hunter and gave him herbs like Rosemary and Aloe Vera to help with symptoms of stomach acid.
This combination of therapies worked well for him, but what seems so obvious now took many years of trial and error to figure out.
Lessons learned:
- Consider the emotional stress that may be associated with physical symptoms.
- Be patient with the process. Learning what works and what doesn’t takes time.
- Don’t start your kid on a colon cleanse on a school night.