Jun 17, 2021
Below is a brief synopsis of my journey into natural medicine. Have a listen to the podcast chat between myself and Michelle Marsh where I share some of my personal stories and anecdotes.
This is my journey and how I went from practicing Western Medicine into Natural Therapies despite the obstacles life threw at me which included constant moving, children, cancer, stroke and divorce.
I knew from the age of 9 years old that I was going to be helping people and as a child I would go to the library and get books out that taught about the human body purely because it was interesting to me.
In high school I moved from Chile to Brazil and when they assessed me they put me a grade up. This proved to be one of the first ‘challenges’ that life was to set for me as I had to learn both a new language as well as performing at a higher level.
After school, I almost didn’t go into medicine. The caring part of my personality wanted to be a nurse, however my father had different ideas and was horrified at the thought of my abilities not being put into medicine.
I of course enjoyed all of the subjects in medicine but I took a keen interest in Microbiology.
During my studies I had experience working in emergency and theatre and had a range of experiences from being punched in the face by drunk patients through to caring for people who are in the end stage of life.
My Hindu late husband exposed me to Homeopathy and a holistic approach. With my late husband I lived in India, Germany and many other countries. In India I was exposed to the ‘freshness’ of food in its natural state. I learned to cook from scratch and I noticed how unprocessed foods were accepted by the body more readily.
When we moved to Australia, in order to continue practicing medicine I would need to do further study. At this stage we had children however and I was already wanting to move into natural therapies so I enrolled to do Naturopathy majoring in Nutrition and Homeopathy.
It’s safe to say I have functioned at a high level for a long period of time but it wasn’t always smooth sailing.
Living in India with my late husband's family wasn’t easy. There was a big difference in culture and while my Western clothes were conservative they were still Western. I had to learn to grind spice and mill flour to make bread daily and I had chores which consisted of things like getting water from the street pump.
My late husband also made life difficult for me. He was not happy with my desire to study naturopathy and so said that if I choose to do it I must make sure I keep doing all the household responsibilities. I.e. cooking him 3 meals from scratch per day, staying home with the children and keeping the house impeccable. I also had to find a way to pay for my studies as he would not support them.
A year into my studies I developed cervical cancer, which became another bump in the road. Thankfully, I knew how to treat myself naturally.
Soon after I had healed, I was pregnant with my fourth baby. I didn’t return to study after my baby as my husband encouraged me to study nursing because it would produce a faster income (because of my medical training) than studying naturopathy.
It wasn’t long before things got worse in my marriage and there was abuse on many levels. When divorcing I represented myself in court, with the help of a very good friend and gained full custody of the children. I found myself in a position again where I could not continue my studies and so I left nursing and applied myself fully to my jobs as a nursing assistant, interpreter and mother to my beautiful children.
At this stage I was working the night shift and caring for my 2, 5, 7 and 9 year old children during the day. Sometimes I wouldn't sleep for two days in a row.
In hindsight it wasn’t surprising that one day I woke up paralysed down one side of my body. I was in hospital for 10 days after the stroke. When I went home I began to heal myself once again with natural medicine.
While still recovering from my stroke, my old teacher from Homeopathy called and told me I needed to return to my studies. My teacher was adamant and so I returned to finish my diploma despite working two jobs, being a single mother and not being well.
All of these difficulties enabled me to gain courage so I could become the resilient person I am today. Along the way I also had many people and moments which gave me the motivation to be the joyful, positive person I am. I have channeled all of these learnings into continuing my education and since graduating from Naturopathy I have studied something new every year, including Mineral Therapy (which became a cornerstone of my practice) Bowen Therapy, Bio regulatory medicine, Blood Analysis, Biological Medicine for Cancer, Essential Oils, Raindrop Technique, Relationship and Post-abortion Grief Counselling, Alfa Thermography, Genetics, Sound Healing, Mentoring and Mindset, Dermatology, Qi Gong and more.