A couple years ago I wrote a blog Living with a Bullet to the Belly–the Wound that Never Heals. Now I have traveled through 35+ months with No Episode Nightmare—getting violently ill.
I carry a list of Go to Activities when a flare-up hits.
**Dab Peppermint oil on tongue or Suck on Peppermint chicklets. This eases the discomfort. Chewing the chicklets keeps the digestion moving.
**Give Stomach Massage with hands on abdomen moving in circles clockwise as I look down. I start with gently Poking abdomen 30 times in circles and then I massage 60 times in circles.
**Massage hands below thumb and pointer finger in tender spot.
**Lay warm hands on abdomen. Also, I use a hot water bottle or heating pad. Warm water in the shower helps too. The warmth eases the stress.
**Breathing–Breathe in 2 counts and let go 8 counts over and over and over and over. This helps to move the food through and lets out the gas which opens up the digestive tract.
**Take Chinese Herb Bao He–formulated to help digestion.
**Tapping—I chose an Anxiety level from 1-10 and work to lessen it. There are different ways to do Tapping but this is what I use
- Tap with two pointer fingers on middle of chin 30 times
- Tap meridan under eye and 2 meridans in arm pit 5 times. You can feel the meridans because they are tender.
- Tap on side of left hand with right fingers humming a song for 5 seconds or so
- Count 5
- Tap on side of right hand with left fingers humming a song for 5 seconds or so
- Put thumb on palm counting one set of movement to keep tract of number of sets I’ve done. Usually I do 3 sets.
- Return to the beginning and do again as needed.
Long Term Coping
**Restricting the food I eat–not eating Gluten, Dairy or Sugar and blending or cooking produce that is hard. This means no raw vegetables such as carrots, lettuce, broccoli, corn or kale unless they’ve been cooked or blended. Cucumbers work if peeled. I avoid celery which has strings. Blending and cooking is also necessary with fruit such as blueberries due to the skin. Pineapple and oranges unfortunately I don’t eat due to the strings. I peel apples and steam until soft. I cook or blend hard cantaloupe. Peaches and pears I peel to eat. I eat a lot of bananas which are good by themselves like watermelon and figs and strawberries.
**Doing Yoga poses designed to ease and open digestion
Such as
Child’s Pose
Cat Cow Pose
Plough Pose
Bring Knees to Chest Pose– Either Sitting or Laying on Flat surface
Headstand
The Bridge– Breathing in 2 counts and Letting out 8 counts enlarging abdomen
Gentle Knee Rocking —I lay on back and bend knees and rock my knees back and forth
Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose–I put feet up on wall to rest Digestion. I do this 2 or 3 times a day. It calms Digestion.
**Receive Acupuncture treatments monthly and take Chinese pills to help with digestion
**Last but not least and very important to my healing—Rest. Rest gives much Medicine. When all else fails Rest can heal me. Waking up after a good night’s sleep puts me on my Well Being track. I feel like a new person. At 77 I found I need more sleep and that’s ok. Whatever it takes to feel better.
Two excellent books on Rest are
Radiant Rest by Tracee Stanley
Rest, Pause and Be Octavia Raheem
Rest comes in other ways too
A walk in the Woods
A conversation with a Loved One
Stopping a few minutes to take a couple Breaths
Taking a few minutes to Meditate or Journal before a Stressful Activity to Settle
Doing Yoga Poses
Breathing after doing Yoga
Turning all devices off and being the Silence
Doing activities that bring Joy-such as
Gardening. Water coloring. Listening to or playing/singing Music.
Time Alone. Reading
All these activities together work to keep me Healthy.
Healing from Gun Shots 