But the truth is the aftermath continues frequently and silently with PTSD, anxiety and an autoimmune condition caused by the trauma.
My ebook memoir of my journey through breast cancer
This week, I was grateful and honored to ride on a chopper formerly owned by a survivor at the Pentagon.
I wore a shirt I had since that time, remembering all lives lost and those who still suffer.
We rode to Quaker Steak and Lube in Clearwater, Florida and when I took the helmet off it was time to represent NYPD in honor of my nephew and cousins.
Others at the weekly Wednesday event seemed supportive of law enforcement and first responders, whose actions on September 11th and in the war afterward seem to have been forgotten by many.
We have not seen a virus this lethal in our lives, according to many experts. I am self-quarantining as much as possible since I already have an auto-immune issue and protecting myself carefully if I do need to be around others.
With decades of employment and education in preventative health care, I have acquired a great set of tools.
I created my own health plan when faced with an autoimmune disease, and I will stick to it firmly facing a pandemic. You see, my holistic health care plan is already designed to support the body’s own immune system.
I will modify it with additional vitamin C from whole foods, anti-viral herbs, immune boosting teas and foods, along with antiviral wipes and a mask.
masks prevent germs spreading from hands to mouth
From a recent article by The Truth About Cancer
For over 10 years, I have followed Dr. MERCOLA and other natural health experts, in addition to decades of my own education and training as a health food store manager and natural product sales executive.
When I managed an alternative health center, I learned of many modalities like massage and yoga that increase the functioning of many body systems and decrease stress.
My own research made cannabis the first priority when it came to my health, and accessing the plant legally also covered my second priority, stress reduction.
This plant takes the edge off the stress of any situation. I immediately feel myself breathing more evenly and deeply after a two-second inhale of my vaporizer.
While I taste subtle hints of citrus and pine from the terpenes in the plant, there is no smoke or odor.
My state of mind is totally under my control with the vaporizer.
Cannabis oil in vape, by Trulieve
I am able to access the plant in a topical, liquid and vapor form in the sunshine state, and Trulieve has offered me everything I need, except a job with them 🙂
Trulieve delivers
The more strains I try, the more I learn to curate my mood for the tasks or tornadoes of the day. I use the liquid tincture at night for a healing, peaceful sleep.
I am so grateful to be able to experience and share the benefits of this plant.
Coming soon: A video chat with my marijuana doctor, Dr. Ralph Rophie of Clearwater, Florida, who says the medicine is “safer than ketchup”.
Dr. Joe Dituri was the expert guest on my latest Live Unconventionally TV episode. If you missed the chat with my Floridian friend, you can view it on our YouTube channel or with a search of Live Unconventionally on video on demand page of LTV’s website.
The retired Naval Commander, diving expert, professor and research scientist shared valuable information for all.
Me and the doc go way back to high school on Long Island, and I have visited his Undersea Oxygen Clinic in Tampa, where he is saving lives on a regular basis.
Candles made possible by honeybees
Next up, it is all about the candles and the bees.
Watch me melt and pour aromatherapy beeswax candles, explaining the process and reasoning, and hulahooping as the wax melts.
safety tips include never leaving hot wax unattended
Tune into the show with any electronic device via livestream at ltveh.org or watch it on television in East Hampton town on channel 20.
I relished the chance to get dressed up and interact with others after being barefoot and secluded in Florida writing my memoirs. I absolutely LOVE vintage and antique finds, as well as the chance to rearrange furniture and home decor.
Thrilled to play in the Sag Harbor Main Street storefront window, I bonded with Pierre, a solid wood French manniquin, named and even written about over the years. Pierre’s outfit changes were no easy feat, and I even got socked in the eye once.
With the U.S. Open bringing clientele and yachts beyond the usual into the waterfront village, including Tiger Woods, the owner suggested a fitting blazer he had at home for Pierre.
“My wife won’t let me wear it, it has been called ‘the douchey jacket,'” he said.
Exhausted from the day of international visitors and dumb heels, I stayed open late for dinner strollers, and returned to my rental around 10:30 p.m.
Harvey Keitel spies Pierre, formerly a French magician’s assistant, and must have the jacket.
I barely moved in yet but I had a futon mattress and a dreamy new comforter I couldn’t wait to wrap myself in. I went to turn off my phone, and it rang. It was the shop owner, and my friend.
“Hey Carrie, I am out in my boat with my cousin from Utah and we ran out of gas. Can you come get us?” Randy asked.
Fast forward to next morning, I was running late and it was taking forever to turn left onto 114 so I called my coworker, James.
“I am here. It is unlocked. I got you,” he said.
Then he called back in five minutes.
“There is a guy here wanting the jacket in the window,” he said.
“The douchey jacket?” I confirmed.
He laughed, restrained.
“He is here now, he climbed up into the window, got it off the mannequin and put it on,” he said.
I was not entirely surprised, but I didn’t think it was for sale.
“It is Randy’s. He loves it. You have to call him,” I said.
I was now pulling into the back parking lot for employees, where the man had parked, and I saw James out there with him. He was wearing the jacket. He had dark sunglasses on, too. My goal was to scoot by and get into the bathroom to finish my hair. It was still wet.
“You’re a woman. Can you tell me if these sleeves can be taken out?” the man asked with a distinctive Brooklyn, New York accent.
“Well I AM a woman, but I am not a tailor,” I said.
“I know one, her name is Nancy, and she could answer that question. She is in Southampton,” I told the man.
“Well I am from New York City,” he said curtly.
“Well okay then” I said, excusing myself into the bathroom to primp.
A few minutes later, I heard him looking for me.
“Where did she go?” he asked.
He started to sound very familiar. I assumed it was because he sounded a lot like my father. It was Father’s Day weekend and I missed him.
My father also loved vintage and antique memorabilia, and there was a framed bus roll that had “Coney Island” and “Kings Highway” stops. It made me feel like he was around. My family members rode that bus.
I showed the artwork to the bold man from New York City.
“That’s wrong, Kings Highway is not in Coney Island” he said, not realizing that it was a bus roll, and it was two different spots. I explained and he thought it was cool.
“Would the tailor come here and alter this jacket for me?” he asked, when Randy agreed via telephone to sell it.
“Well, J-Lo has someone come to her yacht for a blow out, so anything is possible,” I told him, as James swiped his card. He made a comment I won’t repeat, and then told James that his coworker liked to talk, as he did.
“Can you come along in my car and show me the way?” he then asked me.
“That’s not happening,” I said, thinking it crazy for a ‘woman’ to consider going off with a demanding stranger while I was supposed to be minding a store. I suggested James as a suitable option, since there were two of us, and no other customers.
I also noted that it was a good possiblity Nancy was busy, on a Saturday morning during Father’s Day weekend, the U.S. Open, and the beginning of summer for those with children.
“Can we call her?” he asked, and I found her number and started talking.
“Can I talk?” he asked, and I handed him the phone gladly.
“Hi Nancy, this is Harvey Keitel,” he said, and I felt like a total moron for not realizing.
“I saw this jacket in the window last night, and I would like to surprise my wife with it. Would you be able to take care of it this morning for me?” he asked.
“I don’t know my way around here,” he said, looking down at his flip phone which had no map app. I tried to explain, but it really was tricky to find.
So I went with him, and the Gemini sun and moon chatted away on the ride.
As we drove over his Sag Harbor bridge, I told Harvey about Jordan Haerter. Then, at the traffic circle I told him about Joey Theinert, pointing to Shelter Island, where a ferry is named for him. I poured my heart out about my memoir, my ex and my father. I told him how it was so hard to live in the Hamptons where people seem to have no idea we are at war. I told him how I cut a lot out of my memoirs.
“Tell the truth” advised the acclaimed actor and former Marine.
He had his jacket altered in superwoman timing and I shared a secret smoothie spot and local tips on Italian food.
“Carrie Ann, I am grinning ear to ear. This could be a documentary, Hanging With Harvey,” he said before he took me back to work. “Let’s get together again,” he said, and I went back to rewrite my memoir.
“I am grinning ear to ear, maybe this should be a documentary, Hanging With Harvey,” he said. “Let’s get together again,” said Mr. Keitel, and I went back to rewrite my memoir.
I never knew what ‘finding your inner child’ meant. Truthfully I thought it was new-age bullshit, but lately I have been finding my childhood in the most important aspects of my health care plan.
The more I practice self-care, the more it resembles caring for a child.
While I don’t fit into my favorite red pajamas any longer, I wrap myself in my favorite blanket as often as possible. I take a bath and go to bed around 8 p.m. most nights.
I carry my bottle around, currently a Yeti filled with organic coffee or smoothies. Sometimes I have warm organic milk before bedtime.
I eat frequent small healthy snacks, and take naps, too, as good food and sleep are essential to avoid crankiness and sickness.
I never liked being trapped indoors or practicing organized sports, but cute outfits and outside play in the sunshine is high on my list of priorities.
Running from the first day of school in a dress my mother made, with my own twist on the purple socks.
Our Lady of Grace full back, Carrie Ann, didn’t like being kicked or told what to do.
“Love one another as I loved you,” He said, according to my first communion classes.
Sometimes I get angry, feel frustrated or wronged. I use bad words, but it is better than stuffing my emotions.
I ask Jesus for forgiveness and patience, and He helps me see the good in myself and other people.
Despite what viewers see on A & E’s Live PD, there is lots of good, clean fun and flavor to be found in Pasco County, Florida. Some now-famous Pasco Sheriffs were spotted (and thanked) at Hudson’s SunWest Park, an example of family friendly festivities.
It was my first time hearing Rev. B and Funktastic Soul, and I am a fan! I was also a fan of the lobster and crab mac-n-cheese.
With no margaritas on site and the sun shining bright, I had to leave a little early to wet my whistle at Get Hooked Grill, another Hudson gem seen on television for its spear-fishing crew.
This email screenshot deserves a post as a piece of history.
An employee at the Trulieve dispensary in New Port Richey thought my patient number was cool, too. I am one of the first in Florida.
Also of note, you can pay the Florida Department of Health for your card and renewal with a debit or credit card, yet you cannot use such cards at Florida dispensaries at this time.
I can finally access the plant in all forms that I need for my health care; topical gel, sublingual tincture, and vaporizer cartridges.
I saw this #2009vs2019 hashtag trending and thought it a great opportunity to show that I have had #hair and #health all along my holistic journey.
You see, again, my story was published with a photograph of a bald woman. It saddens me that chemo is so commonplace that the loss of hair is expected of those dealing with cancer.
I hope that more people deny the toxic treatments pushed by most American medical doctors in favor of a plan that is better for their health.
I also hope that news journalists forego mentions of this dangerous treatment and photographs of victims of chemotherapy every time they share an article about cancer.
My health plan is a permanent page of this blog. Feel free to share with those who may benefit.
I am also using this hashtag and post to wrap the past and start fresh. It is time for new beginnings and fun in the sun!
Kick off your shoes and join me in following your dreams in 2019 and beyond!
As stress is the cause of most dis-ease, I limit it in any possible way, as mentioned in previous posts and memoirs. I spend my self-created downtime in my own healing places, usually on the water.
I often think of those who follow conventional paths and pray for them. I also think of those who have suggested that I too spend my time at doctors offices and hospitals, just in case.
In addition to the stressful atmosphere (and don’t get me started on the drugs, tests and treatments), life-threatening germs in these buildings pose many serious risks.
Less is more when it comes to exposure to stress, germs and toxins.
“It would be easier,” my mother replied matter-of-factly when I mentioned the option of being married to my career instead of a man this morning.
Another mother figure, my ex-mother-in-law, said something similar, back in those days.
We were watching one of my favorite HBO series, Six Feet Under, and she was particularly fond of the freelance massage therapist who just had a threesome with two beach boys. They walked up to her beach cottage and asked her for a joint, then one thing led to others.
“If I had it to do all over again, I think I would live an unconventional life like Brenda,” my ex-mother-in-law told me, days before she died.
I appreciated her honesty. That conversation inspired the name of my blog.
It made me understand myself. It wasn’t about Brenda’s acts with random beach boys. In addition to my unconventional health views, I want to represent those who choose to forego the 9-5, coupled & kid lifestyles.
It is not easy, and it is not for everybody.
Others often assume I am waiting on a man to feel complete or content. I am not. It was my choice to become single and my decisions have led me to feel happy and healthy.
I enjoy my own company, time with friends and nature, and the abundant opportunities for relaxation, peace, silence, creative thought and expression.
The Live Unconventionally blog hopes to encourage others to follow their instincts, hearts and dreams and to make effective life, health care and relationship choices.
Some of my acquaintances have been frustrated with my lack of communication lately.
I am limiting my one-on-one interactions and taking extended breaks from my phone to review my past and plan my future.
Also, to maintain my health I have been sticking to my health plan.
I am purifying my life and limiting things like plans, news, noise, negativity, driving and drama.
This week alone my PTSD was triggered by a helicopter crash in Syria, killing members of Westhampton’s 106th Rescue Wing, a former life of mine.
When I am not working or writing, I am enjoying peaceful time alone with nature sounds, sunlight, and salty air.
I am avoiding television, news and political discussions. Instead, I listen to nature, nothing or music playlists or channels tailored to my moods or goals.
I unplug early, take lavender bathsand get lots of quality sleep.
Self care is essential to health and happiness. I wish it for all of us.
“Our cells know the truth,” according to Sondra Barrett, Ph.D., “our physiology responds to what we’re thinking, including what we don’t want people to know.”
Untold traumas can cause cells to broadcast danger signals that trigger adrenaline and stress hormones. When that stress is sustained, the immune system starts to malfunction.
“When we release the stories and feelings that torment us, our cells respond with great relief and once again become havens of safety,” Dr. Barrett wrote.
“Telling your story may be the most powerful medicine on Earth” says Dr. Lissa Rankin in Mind Over Medicine.
“We all have stories–ongoing and ever-changing–that we tell ourselves to make sense of our lives. They can help us heal and powerfully guide us through life, or just as powerfully, hold us back,” Judith Fertig advised in an article I tore out and put in my ‘to do’ folder back in 2014.
I wrote about the need to release stuffed trauma in a blog post a few years ago but four books finally flew out of me from the deep trenches of my heart.
My memoirs are based on actual events before, during, and after Sept. 11.
My personal thoughts and experiences include life as a law enforcement spouse, as well as Army wife-life at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and the Air National Guard in Westhampton Beach, New York.
My post-divorce adventures and self-discovery includes dating experiences as well as my career as a journalist on Shelter Island, Sag Harbor and the Hamptons.
I was like a kid in the sandbox. On my hands and knees pulling any crab-grassy, thorny, prickly growths from my new garden beds and pathways.
Despite my appreciation for the beauty of some weeds and respect for their purposes, it felt so good to remove things that had the potential to hurt me during my backyard meanderings.
Some had deep roots, but I dug my fingers in the ground and pulled them out, feeling accomplished and elated.
I related the pesky growths to wounds of my past. I pulled out any remnants of hurtful words, actions, dis-ease and patterns of the past along with the weeds.
I told my mother how happy I was to have the grubbery gone so I can prance around barefoot in my own backyard without fear of getting hurt.
I wrote this article last week for Green Flower Media, but mostly I wrote it for my mother. She suffers from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The article also links to a story I wrote about my own journey toward the medicinal weed for breast cancer.
Decades of negative stigma and false information about the marijuana plant has prevented my mother and many from getting the relief they need.
The federal scheduling of the plant as a schedule 1 substance has prevented the research needed. But that is all changing!
As I wrote in the article, my mother was a fabulous dancer.
She dated my dad in the big band Copa Cabana days in New York City. For five decades, they were reliable for floor-clearing performances at family gatherings…
Here’s hoping my mother will dance again!
Please share the article with others who may benefit.
I was back in New York for the holidays, reminiscing with family over vintage photos and Christmas Cream, a decadent adult treat bottled and gifted annually by family friends, when I recalled a conversation I had earlier with my niece about chia seeds.
“That’s my one thing I do to prevent cancer,” she said.
I also contemplated the topic over two or three golden cups, a favorite sister-baked pastry, NY bagels, and a slice of Grandma pizza, which I allowed myself knowing full well that “white foods” such as processed flour and sugar are cancer’s favorite feast.
If I had to choose only one thing to prevent cancer, what would it be? I wondered.
I poured a glass of alkaline water with lemon, and decided, that is it. I’ve read repeatedly that cancer can’t live in an alkaline environment, after all, and plus I planted a lemon tree before I left Florida.
But wait, maybe fermented foods should be the one thing. After all, they are alkaline-forming too, with the side benefit of being an amazing immune-system-boosting probiotic that eats sugar-loving cancer cells.
Or should it be stress reduction? Or sunlight? A big part of my decision to move to Florida was my research and gut instincts showing that vitamin D from sunlight is a necessity, and stress is my worst enemy.
The truth is, in addition to making major life changes, I have spent the last few years learning enough to make my brain explode, and I do at least 12 things per day to prevent cancer. Most of them come quite easily as part of my health protocol.
It would be difficult to only do just one. But cancer or no cancer, I believe “the one thing” all people interested in their health should do is to take responsibility for it. We must look to the cause, trust our instincts, and do our own research.
We won’t find drug companies lobbying for sunlight and exercise, or funding research on how those two free luxuries can dramatically improve our health and mental wellness.
It can be as easy as a Google search or following noted professionals and reputable sources who regularly publish valuable research.
I am forever grateful to Dr. Mercola, who helped me to feel confident with my anti-conventional path, and who spends his time and profits standing up to big-bulling-business. I am so thankful for The Truth About Cancer emails, posts, and their documentary series for validating my own success and sharing their research, interviews and testimonials widely to help others.
The sad reality is that our government controls the safety of what we eat and drink and what is injected into our veins, and they have sold out to corporations that benefit from our illness. Pharmaceutical and chemical companies dictate ‘health’ policies including what drugs we are dosed and injected with. Our food and water supply is being poisoned and what used to be five vaccines is now around 35, with life-threatening risks. The perpetrators profit, protected from liability for the damage.
My trust is in my own mind and body, supporting the innate intelligence within.
My various careers have validated the benefit of allowing the body to heal and supporting it when necessary. I witnessed the disappearance of allergies and ear infections in children after a few chiropractic adjustments and/or elimination of dairy. On the flip side, I interviewed parents of autistic children who claim their child’s personality and all of their lives changed dramatically and negatively after a slew of shots.
I watched first hand as a medical doctor trained in natural medicine helped patients defeat disease, ditch drugs, and take control of their health with lifestyle changes and supplementation. I researched the surprising benefits of cannabis, for both seizures and cancer, despite illegality in most states and lack of acknowledgement by insurance companies, who prefer to profit from cancer-causing chemotherapy, radiation and diagnostic tests.
My one thing? To trust my experience, intuition, research, and to support my body’s functioning as the most amazing machine ever to exist…except on holidays.
An excerpt from an article I wrote for the Institute for Natural Healing…
Five-year old Charlotte Figi had a genetic disorder called Dravet syndrome, she had hundreds of seizures a week. That was three years ago. Charlotte’s parents began a hospice program because she was starving to death. Their daughter was barely able to swallow water. Faced with severe consequences such as experimental horse seizure medications or putting their daughter in a coma, the Figis were lucky to hear about the possibilities of help from the hemp plant in the nick of time.
Within months of treatment with oil called Cannabidiol (CBD), Charlotte was able to walk, talk, and feed herself. The treatment has high amounts of CBD. It’s a potent, natural product of the Cannabis plant… Yet Charlotte’s Web does not contain chemicals that get you high.
Her mom, Paige Figi, recently told CNBC that they put the oil in Charlotte’s mouth…and she stopped seizing immediately. After a few months, she began to walk, then talk, and then feed herself!
Charlotte is enjoying her childhood thanks to the marijuana plant.
‘Charlotte’s Web’ is more than a story to thousands of children who suffer from epileptic seizures. Instead, it is a form of hemp that has saved their lives. And it’s illegal in most states. The growers, the Stanley Brothers, named this strain of the cannabis plant after Charlotte.
Today, Charlotte is a healthy child. She doesn’t take any pharmaceutical drugs. She can go to school… Play with her twin sister—and older brother… She even rides a horse.
Charlotte can now play with her twin sister and her brother. Photo by Lisa Work
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, filmed a documentary about kids like Charlotte that aired on CNN. Parents told their first-hand stories. Often, amazing results occurred with the very first doses.
Meanwhile, legal seizure meds have many severe side effects. They include an inability to speak, eat, or walk. Some kids have excruciating headaches. Parents also dislike that the drugs change their child’s personality. It makes many kids angry, mean, and even violent.
Thankfully, Charlotte does not need to suffer from dangerous seizure drugs… And she barely has a seizure anymore. Her hemp oil treatment helped reduce her seizure frequency by 99%. And she is not alone… CNBC reports that 85% of patients who use the CBD have a reduction in seizures. Paige Figi now works with the Realm of Caring to help other children have access to this miraculous, herbal treatment.
People around the world have moved to Colorado since the state legalized cannabis for those who live there. The stress of leaving or dividing their families is worth it. They want to save and/or improve their kids’ lives.
Not only the children suffer. Seizure disorders cause financial and mental stress on those who care for them. For example, many children need to stay indoors to avoid outdoor light. They require constant and intensive care. They often have to go to the hospital. Many parents stay awake all night long in fear that their child will stop breathing.
Those who tried to make the oil on their own have had little success. It is difficult to make a safe, effective dose. As a result, thousands in Colorado wait on a list for the oil. Few dispensaries carry that specific, legal strain.
Marijuana also has promise for other diseases, like breast cancer. Unfortunately, the U.S. only recently allowed limited testing of the plant for use as medicine. Historically, pharmacies sold oils from the plant for decades, until it was banned in the 1930’s.
Current federal law says that CBD and THC are Schedule 1 drugs with no accepted medical use. Big Pharma is pumping untold amounts of money to keep it that way… They don’t want to miss out on those profits…
Even conservative states such as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida have allowed the use of Charlotte’s Web for patients with seizures. On the flip side, there are still many politicians who are not open to the plant’s medicinal uses.
Paige Figi is also working tirelessly to effect change legally to help those who suffer. Her new 501c4 coalitionforaccessnow.org just dropped a bill Wednesday in DC, HR1635, to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude cannabidiol-rich plants. It is the nonprofit’s first project of many.
About 2.7 million people in the United States suffer from seizures. Half of them are children. They are kept from the relief they need. Marijuana can help. Yet their health is even more at risk with the drugs doctors push on them…
My memoirs are based on actual events before, during, and after Sept. 11.
As I wrote in the article, my mother was a fabulous dancer.
It can be as easy as a Google search or following noted professionals and reputable sources who regularly publish valuable research.
