The last day of my vacation I started to develop upper respiratory problems. I thought that I had an infection and called my doctor’s office. I had been having these symptoms and would get to the point I was missing work about every 6 to 8 weeks for the last year and a half. The doctor would order an antibiotic. After one or two rounds it would go away. I would think that I had it licked and it would come back. When I was a child I had problems with sore throats and colds from time to time. Over the years, I would have frequent problems with bronchitis. I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. At that time I was told that anytime I started to get symptoms I needed to get treated or I would have problems again with getting pneumonia. So I was very faithful in calling my doctor when the symptoms would start. This particular time my doctor would not prescribe an antibiotic. I had to be seen. I saw the nurse practitioner. I had a virus. I was not allowed to return to work. I had a problem!! A very big problem! My employer had changed their occurrence policy. I was at the point I was going to be put into disciplinary action. One occurrence at the wrong time and I would be out of a job. I also did not want to make my fellow co-workers sick or my patients sick.

As a nurse I am exposed to a lot of illnesses and I didn't want to be the one to pass it on. I was going to have to miss 3 days of work. I had to be seen by employee health and they lengthened my time off. I was told I was blowing bubbles in the back of my throat. I had lost my voice. I still was not put on any medication. It had been 3 days since I had seen the nurse practitioner. Employee health said I needed to be on an antibiotic and sent me back to the doctor’s office. At this point it was mentioned that my immune system was down – that I needed supplements to boost it. I returned to the doctor’s office. I was told I didn't need an antibiotic that it was a group of four viruses that like to crop up about every 4 – 6 weeks. The only thing that could be agreed upon was that I needed to boost my immune system.

Employee health had given me some suggestions but when I went to the internet to order it there were 81,000 + sites for what they recommended. I knew that I needed help. I was desperate. I contacted Dr. Nelson's office. After an exam and some muscle strength testing, she put me on a footbath. After the first 10 minutes my head started to clear and by the end of the treatment I was able to breathe easily, my voice had returned. I only had a slight amount of sinus pressure. It was the best I had felt in days.

After having discussions with my boss and employee health, I decided I needed to follow up on Dr. Nelson's suggestions. I never did get the antibiotics, only took the supplements that she put me on. I started her weight-loss program. The results after 6 months have been great. I have more energy. I have not missed a day of work. I may have had a sniffle or two but the foot bath seems to help that. My ears are no longer sore. I have not had a bad case of heartburn. I had one mild episode after going briefly off of the diet. I have lost 27.8 lbs so far. My cholesterol dropped from the 280’s to 131. My blood pressure has come back down. I have been told by my doctor not to take my blood pressure medicine for now and if I continue to lose weight I may be able to stay off it. I have found Dr. Nelson's help invaluable. This has been a big step for me with my traditional medical background. I still feel that seeing your medical doctor is very important but I also feel we are too quick sometimes to dismiss the holistic and natural approach that can help us. We need to be open-minded to both. Thank you, Nelson, I could not have gotten well without your help. *