Susan Callaway
Sunni: I can’t find fault with anything you just said, Susan, but it’s a very general strategy, and there’s a lot of conflicting information out there from sources that appear to be trustworthy. Cleanliness has brought about vast improvements in health, but according to some recent research, it may also be contributing to rising asthma rates. Ulcers used to be thought to be diet- and stress-caused, but we now know bacteria are the primary culprits. I guess my questions are these: how do we learn what it is we need to know, and how can a lay person assess whether their trust is well placed? Are there medically-oriented web sites you could recommend?
Susan: The only one I could recommend now is World Center for EFT. I’ve lost confidence in almost all western medicine these days. I don’t make any attempt to understand all of the conflicting information anymore. I have come to accept that my emotional and mental state are far more important to my overall health than almost anything else. When I have that in tune with my core beliefs and essential needs, the rest seems to take care of itself. [pauses]
No, I’m not saying that very well, I guess. It’s really hard to articulate that mindset. I remain interested in the research, and am always willing to learn—but I’m measuring it against a whole different yardstick these days. Simplicity, both in diet and lifestyle are important parts of that. I think we make all of this far more complex than it needs to be. If we are at peace with ourselves and our bodies—the core energy vital and healthy—we’re not going to be afflicted with most of the world’s disease and discomfort.
Sunni: We’ll explore a lot of that answer in a few minutes. For now, what led you to begin exploring herbal medicine?
Susan: I started growing and using herbs long before I went into nursing. My grandmother was an herbalist—at least the kitchen or “old wives” type, and I was dosed regularly with various herbs. Chamomile, peppermint, eucalyptus, and many more were a normal part of life from childhood. Were you ever dosed with cod liver oil or sulfur and molasses? [laughs]
Sunni: [laughing] Not that I can recall, but my mom was always telling me that my beloved sassafras and peppermint teas were good for me.
Susan: Boy, were you lucky! You were born after those two awful things went out of style. Of course, we’re being told that the cod liver oil should be used again, but I suspect there are not too many takers, unless they can make it into a pill that won’t taste bad—either before or after one takes it!! Like the garlic ... but I don’t know how much value is left after such a manipulation. It’s impossible to tell, of course, but since I never received any antibiotics or chemical medicine and but two vaccines in my youth, it may help account for the fact that I’ve not had a "cold" in at least 25 years and I’ve never had the “flu”. I wish I knew for sure because I’d be a kajillionaire if I could bottle it. [chuckles]
Sunni: [laughs] Have you tried various formulations? You could hit on the winner!
Susan: The problem is that I have no idea where to start! It isn’t anything I take or eat or do consciously. My life has changed drastically at least three times during those 25 years, and I WAS "sick" with other things during at least one of them. That’s why I believe that the immunity from colds and flu has something to do with the lack of vaccines in my childhood (and since)—which gave me a healthy immunity to infections at least. Now, with overall health better than I’ve had since that childhood, I don’t ever expect infections or inflammatory disease of any kind to bother me the rest of my life.
But back to your question. Exploring alternative medicine and herbs went hand in hand with my nursing education and I’m qualified, though never took the test, to become certified in alternative medicine—a rather new certification area for nurses. I gave it up when I realized that most of the certification process is pretty bogus. What they seem to be teaching in reality is how to talk people out of alternative medicine and back into the allopathic model. EFT and simplicity of life is probably the closest I’ll ever come to a “cure” that I can market.
Sunni: On the subject of vaccines, it is astonishing to me how many are now pushed [PDF], and at such early ages! Hepatitis vaccinations for newborns, even when they’re at no risk of contracting it; chicken pox vaccinations; and now, of course, the HPV vaccine that several states are trying to require for schoolgirls under force of law. It’s scary that so many parents seem to unthinkingly allow all that stuff to be pumped into their children. Do you think that the idea of vaccination is sound, and it’s become more and more poorly implemented over time? Or is it not exactly the great idea Jenner and others thought it was?
Susan: Vaccines, as with most, or all other chemical medicine, may be good or even necessary in the face of a specific emergency. If an epidemic of something fatal was occurring, or was in a nearby area, it might make sense. But to inject everyone, especially infants with immature immune systems, just on the off chance that it “might” prevent something... that’s insane. Do we give children routine doses of heart medicine because they “might” develop heart disease in the future? Not that the medication is even good for their elders who do have the disease, of course. It makes much more sense to teach those children—and their elders—to live in such a way as to provide themselves with their maximum potential for a healthy immune system and healthy body so they don’t suffer from either germs or heart trouble.
Sunni: Are there any vaccines you would recommend for children today, and if so, what and when? I vacillate over whether my daughter should get a measles vaccine before she enters puberty, for example.
Susan: Possibly tetanus—though it’s better to be careful where they go barefoot, etc. There is a serum that can be given if they have a susceptible injury, of course, and they could then get the vaccine later, but this one has been given for a long time with few or no known problems. I wouldn’t give it to a child under 3 unless it was really necessary. Those who live on a farm, for instance. But no child should get any of them before 18 months. Their immune systems are just too immature. Measles is not fatal to start with. If they are healthy and eating well, they might become infected, but their bodies can handle it. The vaccine actually does damage to the overall immune system, from my reading, and does not give the same level of protection as the antibodies from the natural infection. Mumps and chicken pox are the same. I had them all, and while they were not pleasant experiences, they were a normal part of childhood and did not damage me. An adverse reaction to a vaccine can be fatal [pauses] An impaired immune system could damage them for life and make them susceptible to every infection that they encounter.
