"Hey brother! Got any B-12 on you?"

In America today we can get a 90 day mail order supply of tegratol, neurontin, baclofen, klonopin, xanax, ambien. Naproxen and even steroids. What we cannot get easily is Vitamin B-12. Which you cannot overdose on. Which stores any overages in your liver and makes your liver happy when it does so.

My husband has been diagnosed with a rare and severe B-12 deficiency. At some unknown point his body stopped absorbing it from food. And slowly his body depleted all of his stored up B-12 until he ended up acting and talking like a 90 year old drunk man. So now he must receive B-12 injections for life and also B-12 I.V.'s when appropriate to get it into his system. He also suffers from excrutiating pain from trigeminal neuralgia and he may or may not have M.S. according to which neurologist you talk to and what day of the week it is. Yep, you can imagine he feels pretty lucky these days.

So once he was diagnosed in the hospital with a simple blood test [get thee to a Dr. 20% of patients labelled with dementia in nursing homes actually suffer from B-12 deficiencies, according to the Hospitalist.] his treatment plan was established.

"Let's be aggressive!" said his neurologist. She told us to return to our PCP who would handle the B-12 injections. We returned. He said he would start Ken on a once a week injection, 1 ml. of cyanocobalamin [synthetic B-12].

That doesn't sound aggresive.

Especially when now he can't work, can't think and it's probably making his pain much worse. So we got real assertive with his primary care Dr. and demanded a shot every day for the first week out of the hospital. We asked for an IV once that week with a B vitamin cocktail [protocol]. We asked for 2 ml. shots of methylcobalamin [higher grade B12, higher dosage]. He refuses to give an IV cocktail. He refuses to give the higher dosage, higher grade B12. He relented on a daily injection the first week out and then stubbornly went back to the once a week injection. For the man acting like a 90 year old drunk.

You know Doctors? There is something called the internet out there with tons of information on protocols, clinical studies and other patients' success stories. Did you know that?

So we've stepped outside of the medical model to get him more and better vitamin B-12. But it comes with its' costs both monetary [fine by me, not by my husband] and psychological.

First of all, full disclosure. For 30 years of my adult life I have had to step outside of the medical model for optimal healthcare. And I have done so gladly and willingly, paying out of pocket because my health is important. I have gone to Naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, chiropractors and acupuncturists. Where mainstream medicine fails me when it comes to treating backpain, PMS, anxiety, hormonal imbalances and pregnancy issues, I gladly turned to alternative healthcare and have found profound relief. And not once have I complained that I had to pay out of pocket. I was never guaranteed free healthcare for life that would actually cure what ails me. I live on planet earth, an imperfect and flawed little blue marble.

I cannot comprehend the people who are in pain or very ill who tell me flat out they will not go to any Dr. that their insurance doesn't cover. It doesn't matter that their physician may not be able to help them, if insurance doesn't cover it, they won't go. At one point a couple of years ago I counted 10 professional women I knew sick with chronic illnesses [diabetes, breast cancer, bipolar illness, etc.] whose quality of life was severely impaired and/or their ability to work was severely impaired. And while mainstream medicine could help them to a point, it couldn't cure them and for every one of these women they reached a point where the Dr. gave them pills, patted them on the head and sent them home.

My husband also has the medical model imprinted on his cognitively declining brain and has never considered not going to just the doctors for which his insurance will cover the visit. This is despite the fact that he watched his little brother and his father and his mother DIE using that same medical system that was unable to help them.

So when I told him we'll go to my naturopath for a vitamin B12 I.V. cocktail and for ensuing extra B-12 shots of the higher amount, higher grade he was skeptical and not excited.

"Why should I have to pay out of pocket when I HAVE insurance?" he demands.

"Because mainstream medicine doesn't have the capacity to help everybody all of the time with everything that ails them," I explain. "They have certain models they follow. You can get surgery for backpain, or go to a chiropractor or accupuncturist for backpain. There are alternatives! And there have been for over 2000 years. AND your doctor refuses to treat this aggressively!"

He resists me but we go anyway. On Monday the naturopath gives him a B-12 IV which includes other vitamins and minerals. He tells Ken they will focus on whatever Ken wants to focus on: he is steering this ship. Ken wants to focus on aggressive treatment for the B-12 deficiency. $90.00 for the I.V.; $20.00 for each injection. So he returns Tuesday for a B-12 injection. Wednesday we go to his regular physician for their weekly B-12 injection. Tomorrow he'll go back to the naturopath for another injection. We'll work with mainstream medicine and go outside of it for more and better - it's worked for me for 30 years.

I'm praying this works for my husband.