Maddie's Sick

-- Elaine Lewis, DHom

On 24th October, 2003, I got an email from our friend Barbara M., who's written for this magazine many times, saying, "Need some help. Maddie is sick. Poor kid has been vomiting a lot. Illness came on suddenly. She was fine when she woke up this morning and then about an hour after breakfast she said her 'neck' hurt. [Barb later explained that she felt that 3 or 4 year old Maddie meant her "throat" hurt, but, I'm sticking with the exact words as they were given.] She said she might throw up. She has vomited about four or five times since then--after drinking anything and after a banana. This last time it was right after cold drinks. She has a slight fever, says her throat hurts and is very lethargic. She is not anxious or restless at all, just lying on the couch, not moving much. Her eyes are droopy and the lids are pinkish. She wants me to carry her if she gets up. She doesn't seem to prefer to be covered or uncovered. If I offer a blanket she takes it, but then if she rolls over and it falls off, she doesn't care. She is not fearful or anxious, but just looks sad and droopy. She has had a cough for about 10 days prior to this but it was getting better. Thanks, Barb."

Now, it would be easy for me to tell you the remedy, but, you know what? There are people out there who say that if you give a case to 10 homeopaths you'll get 10 different remedies, and I'd like to show those people that they're wrong! Send me an email (LEWRA@aol.com) and tell me what the remedy is and explain why you think so. I'll share the results with you in the next issue.

What I like about this case is that Barb understands how to present a case to a homeopath, and there's a lot to be learned in her presentation alone.

She could have said, "What do you give a child for vomiting, what's the remedy for that?" This is how most of our acute cases are presented to us, and we can't do anything with this information. Barb knew to give:

1. the onset (how fast the illness came on)

2. the state, by which we mean the name of the condition--fever, flu, etc.

3. the all-important mental state

4. the physical appearance or what we call "objective symptoms"

5. the modalities (things that make the condition better or worse, such as eating or drinking, the temperature of the room, the weather, company or solitude, touch, position of body, motion, time of day and so on)

6. physical generals--how the person is in general. These symptoms usally start with "I": I'm hot. I'm dizzy, and so on.

7. particulars--the local symptoms; these usually start with "My": My throat hurts, etc.

By giving such a well-presented case, the homeopath can't go wrong! Let us know what you think the remedy is.

Barb gave a 200C of the remedy at bed time and the next morning she told me, "Elaine, she's fine, great, couldn't be better!"

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Find the answer in the next month's issue of Homeopathy 4 Everyone