I have been interested in plants, in their names, their properties since I was seven years old. I didn't play house or play with dolls. Instead, I wandered the fields near my home creating 'camp sites' and clay works. I harvested great armloads of grasses and weeds and longed to put them to use. I grew; my studies kept taking me to science and nature. I took an undergraduate pre-Med degree in 1969. When Med schools wouldn't have me, I turned to education and engineering. On the weekends, I hung out at a local herb farm. When I began really hating Mondays, I knew I had to honor my childhood yearnings to know the plants.
I studied all the herb texts available at the time (very few) and plotted my escape. Finally, in 1980 I moved to Vermont and within two years opened my herb shop - Rathdowney Herbs. Then the real learning began. As customers asked questions, I researched answers. I started attending herb gatherings, studying with Vermont wise women and walking the woods and meadows with field guides.
The shop closed in 1994 and I began focusing more on healing work and less on business. I studied massage. I opened an office in Quechee Vermont almost 5 years ago- but closed it last May - due to time pressures. I continued to wander the fields gathering the ingredients for the products I started making in the 1980's.
However, in October much of that stopped. I was diagnosed with lobular carcinoma - breast cancer. After surgery in November - it was clear that I had stage 4-breast cancer, as I had cancerous nodes in my neck(had had them for over 2 years,)above the collarbone - but no signs anywhere else.
Then, in December, I started having strange symptoms. Finally in late January I was diagnosed with Leptomeningeal metastasis, whereby lobular carcinoma cells cross the blood brain barrier and go into the cerebral/spinal fluid. These cells irritate the lining of the brain and the spinal cord - mimicking meningitis.
It's a serious disease and I need to spend most of my energies fighting it. So I am winding down my web page as far as the finished products. I do not want to be under pressure to maintain inventory. I am continuing to stock most of my health and bulk items. My shipping times may be slow - but I will keep you posted.
I am in the process of writing an herb book that, I hope, will pass on the knowledge I have gained over the years. I especially want to honor and tell the stories of the wise women who held the light for the re-emergence of plant medicine in this country. I will continue to release articles on the web page. So stay tuned! The best is yet to be.
With best wishes for your continued health and wellbeing,
Louise
webmaster@starprana.com
