Tony, I too will likely be on narcotics of some type my entire life. I think it is very important for folks like us, to not loathe ourselves for failing to modify our lifestyles and 'allow' ourselves to slip into illness.

I believe that a path need not be exclusively down the eastern or western road, and that balance usually lies in the middle.

We walked this road before, probably a year ago.

I worked in nursing for enough years to know people get sick. Babies, to young moms and dads, to boomers to older folks, and most of them were taken care of well, or tried to take care of themselves.

Some of my most difficult moments were in comforting relatives of deceased patients of all ages, that the illness was not the result of their errors or omissions.

Interestingly, I have used alternative methods way before I knew I was sick. by the time I went to the doctor, my disease was advanced. By the time they got the testing done, it was even more advanced. The stage of any disease will impact the success of any given treatment.

Some folks arrive at the diagnosis early, and other pitifully late. Disease takes different courses depending on genetics, environmental exposure, emotional and social stressors etc.

I am still a believer in Mother Nature, in many precepts of Eastern Philosophy, however, there comes a time, for each of us, when, we may need intervention from standard medicine. It is a good thing we have it. This is not to say that modern medicine is not driven, at times, by profit motives, and that many folks are overmedicated. Ironically, they are seldom overmedicated for pain.

Taking meds is utterly acceptable, and gives many of us a life that would otherwise be impossible. No one should suffer needlessly for lack of pain meds, nor feel a shred of guilt for taking them.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to throw suggestions or findings out to people to research and try, however, it is not reasonable to imply that disease, or severity of disease is due to failure to perform said suggestions.