I recently had a colonoscopy.

Some of you may know the prep that is involved. You have to take this awful syrup to clean out your gut before the camera goes in to take pictures.

But here is what you may not know. You have to stop all of your supplements several days beforehand because not all ingredients are known. Because nothing is left to chance that might cause extra bleeding, these pills must be stopped. Even aspirin and ibuprofen may not be taken because of their blood thinning properties.

As I lived for days without my vitamins, herbs, and minerals, I came to realize I cannot live without them. The glucosomine and tumeric help my arthritis. The tumeric and B-12 help with my diabetes.

Now combine that with my tubes of creams and bottles of lotions. Suddenly, it has become clear to me that this is all that holds me together. I use Vicks vaporub to battle my toe nail fungus (which I am winning). I have another cream to work on the athlete’s foot on only one foot. The moisturizing lotion I used is scented with lavender to aid in both dry skin protection and emotional well-being.

And then there is my blue emu pain relief cream. It looks weird but it helps. Now granted my pain is not great. I can get by with only tylenol as I cannot take aspirin or other pain relievers in that vein as they interfere with other meds. But without any one piece of my pots, tubes, or bottles collection, I am a mess.

I was so glad for the day of my colonoscopy. Not because I am a fan of anesthesia. I hate that stuff which makes me sick every single time. Once the procedure was over, and I recovered enough to eat supper, I took every single supplement on my list.

It took a few days but everything has slowly come back to normal.

Not that I am without pain. I can tell you when rain is coming. And arthritis is trying to beat me everyday. But thanks to my bottles, tubes, and little pots, I am able to keep my skin intact, keep the pain at bay, and fight against the autoimmune system that seems to want to kill me.

What keeps you intact everyday?

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