The Natural Connection

One of the unanticipated pleasures of writing this news column for the past two years has been receiving correspondence from the many loyal readers of this newspaper. Each day brings a new surprise by letter or e-mail. Most letters request further information about a medical topic from a recent column that is easy to provide, or offer suggestions for future columns. These are spots of sunshine on an icy winter day. 

Kindly people devoted to simultaneously fattening me up and keeping me healthy send blueberry pound cake recipes and directions for concoctions to cure colds naturally. Just today I heard how a green walnut skin could help remove a wart, and about a field grass to chew that cures diarrhea. In return, folks want me to tell them how to make the now famous Grandma’s Chicken Soup that appeared in a column last year—there was a big run on that right before the holidays.  

Some tell tragic stories, looking for answers that are more difficult. Mothers write to ask if there is any new hope for their sons with Hepatitis C. Husbands want to know about promising treatments for their wife’s breast cancer, or their granddaughter’s lymphoma. They are grateful to receive information about clinical trials or specialty centers that may be able to offer new therapies. 

Many letters that I receive are just down right peculiar. These usually come from readers on other continents that read my articles on the Internet. These can be the most challenging to answer, as we wouldn’t want to give any of our international readers the wrong impression about our little corner of paradise. Still, I wonder if they even know where the Okefenokee Swamp is located, or what this newspaper is all about. 

“dear swampdoc”, a lady recently wrote from Australia, “I would appreciate any information that you could send me about the large Kangaroo Apple that is growing in my yard, including recipes for ketchup. Looking forward to hearing from you”. 

I didn’t have the heart to tell this nice lady that her plant is not named the “Gator Apple” for a reason. It grows in dry, arid places, like the Outback of Australia, not in places that can sometimes get 49 inches of rainfall. The only similarity between where she lives and where we live is a restaurant that sells steaks. 

Even though I don’t write a gardening column, I don’t think that I have ever seen a Kangaroo Apple in the Okefenokee, or ever will. And I know I’ll never cook one, since some of them are poisonous. So I sent her a nice picture of the Swamp, and a pretty picture of her favorite plant from a web site that says POISONOUS! Maybe it will help her. 

There are some international e-mails that have a truly desperate quality. A gentleman from Venezuela wrote, “Dear swampdoc, my wife is going through menopause and is having personality changes and hot flashes. Are their any herbs that she can take to fix this problem? I request your immediate attention to this matter!!!” 

I had visions of the poor man standing anxiously by his computer waiting for some small glimmer of herbal trivia that could possibly improve his situation. I sent him the information as quickly as possible, but I never heard from him again. You just can’t please everyone all the time I guess.  

For further information on your favorite medical topic (no matter how peculiar), you may write to The Natural Connection, c/o Dr. Pauline Bellecci, PO BOX 777, Waycross, GA 31502 or contact us on our web site www.swampdocs.com 

©2000-2003 Pauline M. Bellecci, MD