Ryan Drum

Island Herbs

P O Box 25, Waldron, WA 98297-0025

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Rural Pathology, Rural Herbs

using herbs and First Aid where There are no Physicians

Point 1: LOCATION

There are no resident physicians on the remote island where I have lived for 32 of the past 35 years. The full time population is ca. 50, with up to 250 summerfolk, July-August each summer. Often in the dark six months (October-March) rough weather prevents the possibility for leaving the island for medical emergencies. We are blocked by wind and waves, in which case we are on our own. When asked, I provide care and advice and some health/human biology education, for acute and chronic trauma and pathology. I use first aid, herbs and behaviour change suggestions. Any herbs used are provided w/o cost to my neighbors. Below is a sampling of cases and remedies used.

Point 2: HERBALIST ACTIVITY

Not only w/o physicians or physician's assistants or a clinic, our island, not connected by bridge nor ferry to other islands nor the US mainland, has no pharmacy or other retail general merchandise shop selling either prescription or OTC medicines. Consequently, not only must we diagnose and treat our respective health problems, we often need to make our own medicines. I try to use simple herbal preparations, in descending order of preferences: teas, soaks, compresses, poultices, oils, salves, tinctures for single-issue injuries and pathologies. I promote herbal medicines which can be prepared from local, readily available plants, many all year-around.

When possible, I teach the person involved how to make their own medicines, asking, nay, insisting, they write out the medicine-making instructions. I also show them where to harvest the herbs. In each case I encourage the person to keep a detailed personal case history diary, recording all observed changes in symptoms, and rating on a scale 1-10, any improvements, setbacks, progressions, and resolution. The readily available ringbound daily/weekly Dayminder appointment books are especially handy for personal case histories. I strongly advise against digital recording, due to systems fragility.

Point 3. VERY SERIOUS CASES

For cases beyond my probable competence (compound bone fractures, serious head injuries, deep chainsaw wound, large area deep burns, rapidly-growing tumours, renal cardiac failure) I usually urge Medivac by boat or helicopter, weather permitting. Otherwise, we do whatever we can to help.

CASES - HERBS

1. Vibrio from raw summer oysters - Herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum)

2. Acute Blood poisoning - Oregon Grape Root Tea/Poultices, Topical Soaks

3. Postpartum maternal bleeding - Shepard's Purse Tea, Cayenne/Cinnamon powders in 00 capsules

4. Hornet stings - Yarrow spit poultice(s) SelfHeal poultices

5. Deep soft-tissue lacerations - Butterfly bandages

6. Early Flu onset - Strong Yarrow Tea, chewed Lomatium nudicale seeds

7. Aged male dysuria - Strong Goldenrod (S. odora) tea, fresh leaves

8. Non-resolving enlarging open dermal lesions - Fresh Plantain spit poultices

9. Compound chronic Pneumonia - Chapparal (Larrea tridentate) tea, oil, tincture, vinegar, fresh leaves

10. Insomnia - Indian Pipe TX (Monotropa uniflora)

11. Benign solid tumour - Fig leaf/Celandine salve

12. Cystic hemorrhoid - Pacific Silverweed poultices(Potentilla pacifica)

13. Solid Hemorrhoid Yarrow & Dalmatian Toadflax salve Linaria genistifolia)

14. Pseudomeasles - Stop drinking Lomatium Root tincture (L. dissectum)

15. Enlarging post-impact trauma large bruise - Hawthorn TX, Indian Pipe TX with intense pain and insomnia

16. Burning urination - Eat less black pepper sauce

17. Juvenile dry cough - Grindelia, Butterbur, Populous TX

18. Juvenile earaches - Mullein tops/Garlic oil

19. Soft tissue Sarcoma - Sargassum Seaweed,Fresh Sheep sorrel

20. Hives - Selfheal, Plantain, Yarrow spit poultices

21. Bee stings same as above

22. Recurring raw bleeding mouth sores - Thorough Sleuthing

SELECTED CASE NARRATIVES

Cystic postpartum hemorrhoid:

At the County dock one day, a neighbor woman asked if we could take a little walk along the beach for a private talk. I said of course.

As we walked along she said she had a troublesome recurring solitary postpartum hemorrhoid of 8 years' duration, that was finally too large and painful to tolerate. Could I suggest some herbal cure? Remembering the story of L.'s solid hemorrhoid successfully resolving with herbal salve, A. wondered if the same treatment would work for her hemorrhoid. I asked if A's hemorrhoid was solid or mostly fluid-filled; she said it was pliable, and seemed fluid-filled, cystic. I explained to her that the solid growth on L. was a benign tumor, whereas A."s was a bag of fluid in expanded vascular tissue.

So, we would use the traditional Coast Salish treatment. These coastal Natives spent a lot of long hours sitting/kneeling/squatting in big cedar canoes and anal hemorrhoids were apparently a common affliction, especially postpartum. The treatment was to use a topical wash/poultice made with a strongly astringent native plant, a seamarsh plant, Pacific Silverweed, Potentilla pacifica, a type of cinquefoil, in the rose family. In addition to being medicinal, it was cultivated by the Natives for thousands of years in large flat saltmarsh areas and dug for its "edible" roots, called biscuit roots after the plump enlargements of the long deep roots, which were long-term storage organs for the plants, down as much as 18 inches in dense soils.

The plant is quite common on my island in the abandoned native marsh gardens, including the marsh in front of A's cabin. All parts of the plant are medicinally effective as an astringent, leaves and roots. Since it was November, there were a few remaining vital leaves, but we managed to pick about 4-6 ounces of leaves and several ounces of fresh roots. I told her to wear a diaper analog with smashed Silverweed material directly on the hemorrhoid and proximal tissue until the hemorrhoid resolved. If no improvement by two weeks, please call me. The topical treatment should be able to completely shrink the hemorrhoid and heal the surrounding tissue and help strengthen the vein from which it erupted. Fortunately, all of the hoped for results occurred by about 2-3 months. There was no lesion examination on my part, since I am loath to be examining hemorrhoids on other men's wives, and trusted A explicitly. Two years later, the hemorrhoid had not recurred, a first in 10 years.

Vibrio Acute Diarrhea

A near relative of Vibrio Cholera, the bacterium responsible for Cholera and thousands of human deaths yearly, V. vulnificus can grow in oysters, crabs and some other shellfish in warmer marine waters over circa 65oF, mostly in the summer months. The symptoms are severe abdominal cramping, violent uncontrollable diarrhea, dizziness, great thirst. Death can result from dehydration and loss of electrolytes. We usually eat the oysters year around since we think our waters remain too cold to support V. vulnificus growth in our shellfish.

In a protected special bay, with southern midday sun exposure, oysters grow abundantly and big. A casual shore walker, one fine July day, got an irrepressible urge to eat a plump oyster or two so big and appealing. Popped them open did he and popped them down in a quick poach.

And, feeling real good, he meandered inland towards his cabin slowly. Some 2-3 hours later he called me in a great dither and described the classic symptoms of shellfish vibrio. I knew nothing at that time about shellfish vibrio but decided to deal with the awful symptoms, namely quelling the explosive diarrhea. I went to him where his woodland cabin was surrounded by lots of lush invasive Herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum) and pulled up dozens of big plants with tiny reddish brown taproots. I clipped off the roots and gave a bunch for him to chew up and swallow. He did. And more, and more, and more.

The diarrhea stopped in about an hour and did not resume. I also gave him a kelp sandwich, about 15 gm (½ oz.) of powdered Nereo Kelp spread on a piece of toast drenched in olive oil to hold the kelp powder on the toast, to replace his electrolytes. (Nereo Kelp is 25-30% dry weight minerals in the summer months.) Especially Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, and Magnesium.

No more symptoms remained nor returned. Soiled clothing lurked awhile as lessons material. A distinct loss of enthusiasm for raw oysters still obtains and jokes by neighbors are not appreciated.

Non-resolving enlarging open dermal lesions

It was our habit after a long day out on the water harvesting Bull Kelp Fronds, and hanging them one by one in the late afternoon on almost a mile of recycled stainless steel trolling wire, to sit by my cabin , eating grains and greens and drinking homebrew, especially Oregon grape root ale, recounting our various adventures in three separate little harvesting skiffs and just simple talk. There were 5 female apprentices that particular lovely long evening when we heard a loud crashing and roaring of a truck engine in seeming desperation to get as close to us a possible (no road goes to my cabin). From previous decades of similar truck noises, I suspected some sort of medical emergency and alerted the crew to that probability. Eventually two handsome somewhat disheveled neighbor lads teetered up the hill and jovially joined us. They seemed alright to me…maybe a bit inebriated perhaps. After introductions and small talk all around, some obvious nervous flirting (single young men had a habit of appearing spontaneously when I had young single female helpers), one fellow pointed at the other and said, L. wants to buy your truck. With three trucks, all decrepit and in intensive care, I was incredulous. (Later I did learn that this was a ploy to justify the sudden visit). L looked surprised. Which truck, I asked. The orange one, replied L. after some nervous hesitation. It doesn't run anymore, I said.

That's no problem, said L. (Dreamer, I thought to myself). An aspiring logger and sawyer, he had admired my 1960 International Cherokee 4WD Scout as I drove up steep logging roads and down to the water's edge to get loads of fresh seaweeds for garden fertilizer. Apparently in his less lucid moments he actually lusted after that hussy of a truck. Well, I said, that will be $500.00 . The apprentices glanced amongst themselves in disbelief; $500. for a truck that didn't run and probably would not ever do so again, seemed cruel. Plus, I said, you will have to pay cash for it. D. promptly pulled out a dirty roll of bills and peeled off 5 $100.00 bills and handed them to me. I hardly saw the bills: instead I was fascinated by the three bleeding open nearly circular deep wounds on the backs of D."s fingers and hand. Don't you want the money now, demanded D.? Oh, yeah, sure, thanks. I could hardly talk. Go get the title and sign it over to L. said D. Of course, I said. I knew they would not leave without the title, and they would chat up the fems in my absence. I was thinking about those angry lesions on D.'s hand. What had caused them?

Eventually I located the title and registration and signed them over and took them outside to see the crew all laughing and counter-flirting. Ah, youth.

D. took the documents with his left hand, the lesioned hand, and I asked him what had happened to his hand. Amazingly, he held out his left index finger and pointed to a long just-healed linear fresh line of scar from fingertip to the bottom knuckle. I had not even noticed the scar. That, said D., was where I ran a tile knife into my finger whilst cutting some very tough flooring material about a month ago. (D. was a tile setter and sheet flooring installer.) It was bleeding a lot and wide open, so my helper took me to the clinic and the woman doctor sewed it up. Nice job, eh? Oh, very nice I said. But, D., what about those four open sores weeping and bleeding on the back of your left hand? Oh, those, he said. That was where the Doc held my hand while she stitched the cut. Those sores started a few days after the stitching. After two weeks they were getting bigger and so I went back to the clinic and asked the Doctor what they were. She asked me if I was allergic to Latex. I said, a little bit; sometimes I get sores like that from tile mastic splashed onto my legs or arms. They usually go away after awhile. She said that those sores seemed to correspond to the contact points of the latex glove she was wearing when D.'s finger was stitched up.

Unfortunately, she said, we don't know how to treat those latex allergy lesions that keep enlarging. BINGO!! In 1980 or thereabouts, Michael Moore on one of his famous herbal adventure trips had encountered similar non-healing lesions (a student, perhaps?) and immediately got the crew to chewing up Plantain spit poultices which were applied live and wet directly to those lesions. They resolved.

Molly Webb from Georgia was in that class (and later managed Michael's store, Herbs, Etc for awhile), and was amazed by what seemed a miraculous herbal cure.

A few years later, back in Athens, Georgia, she had opened her own Herbal Shop, Turtle Island Herbs. I was visiting her shop (on the top floor of the same building with the legendary "Blue Bell Café" on the ground floor, alleged site of the founding of both REM and the B-52'S Outstanding rock groups) in summer of 1984, and discussing cases when she mentioned that she had been treating several men with severe sores who were workers at a local fiberglas fabrication plant in Athens.

Several of them had presented with deep open hand and arm lesions that did not heal and seemed to be enlarging. She had started treating them with continuous Plantain Spit Poultices, including teaching them to chew up the Plantain and pack the spit plus Plantain wad loosely into neoprene rubber gloves for long-term poultice-lesion contact. For those who were persistent and compliant, the lesions healed completely in several weeks. She also suggested that the workers might consider seeking alternative employment.

She later learned that the workers at the Fiberglas plant were required to wear protective gear, including gloves. Molly also learned that sharp fiberglas fibers would get into the gloves and dig into the webbing between the workers' fingers. That was where the lesions were most likely to start.

Ten years later I was observing similar sores on D.'s hand. Immediately I recounted the situation in Athens and the use of Plantain spit poultices to my merry crew who were lounging in the midst of scores of robust Plantago lanceolata plants with big succulent leaves. All began to chew up big spit wads of Plantain leaves whilst I tried to explain to D. that we were going to put his left hand into a large-sized black neoprene rubber glove loosely packed with the copious Plantain spit balls. I dashed into my cabin and returned with the glove and we all packed in the Plantain and helped D. insert his hand.

I then told him that he should change the glove out every 4-8 hrs and repeat the filling with fresh Plantain spit poultice wads of his own making/chewing. I explained to all that P.lanceolata contains epidermal growth factor, as do each of our respective salivas. A spit poultice of P. lanceolata thus carries a double whammy of epidermal growth factor, presumably skin repair supportive and perhaps stimulative.

About 6-8 weeks later, D. showed up at my place with scarred patches where his 4 lesions had been. L. was able to get the old Scout going, and used it in his work until it refused to cooperate and was pastured out.

Compound Chronic Pneumonia

Each winter when my sons were in grades 1-8 in our local all-grades one-room school house and there were few herbs and seaweeds to harvest we would take 1-3 month adventure trips. In 1990 we went to the deserts of SW US and NW Mexico for 5-6 weeks.

Several weeks later snow was falling lightly when we were on Orcas Island waiting to catch a boat ride back to Waldron Island. We went to the local healthy food store, Orcas Homegrown, to get some fresh fruit and say hello to the owners, our dear friends. As I came up to the counter the woman owner exclaimed "Ryan Drum!! You are just the person we need. Oliver here is dying from some strange lung/ chest illness. He has been given two courses of very strong broad-spectrum antibiotics and keeps getting worse. He has lost a lot of weight and is very weak. He can't even pick up his new young son. I told Oliver you might be able to help him, and here you are. Where did you get that fine tan?"

I was a bit overwhelmed. We had several hours before our boat ride was ready to take us across to our island.

I looked seriously at Oliver, a famous local actor of great talent and formerly a robust handsome lad; now, a pale feverish shrunken ghastly picture of sickness heavily bundled in a heavy overcoat and several sweaters and thick wool scarf, and wool hat, shivering in the overheated store. He was not acting this time. Just before we began our departure from the Sonora desert, the boys and I had harvested a large quantity of Larrea tridentata to bring home to dry and make oil, vinegar, tincture, and to eat fresh on kelp sandwiches, and to preserve lard if we could get some to render out.

Some obscure entries in Sam Hicks' Of Desert Plants and Peoples had referred to native use of Chaparral steams and tea to cure severe respiratory ailments. I decided to give the strongest herb I knew, El Gobonador, a chance to help poor sick Oliver.

Oliver, I said, I might be able to help you. I have just harvested a very powerful healing herb in the Sonoran desert and it may save you. You must do everything I tell you.

Jeanne answered for him, "he will, he has no other option except death".

We drove out into the snowstorm to Oliver's place, following him in our burly Suburban full of Chaparral. I brought in a huge paper shopping bag of Larrea. On the way to Oliver's I had stopped at the state liquor shop and purchased a fifth of good brandy for a tincture of Chaparral; he and Irene already had vinegar, bread, salad dressing. I started the tincture and told him to drink 15cc (1/2 oz) each day with food. I showed him how to make a chaparral open face sandwich with nut butter or olive oil as a dressing and a complete layer of fresh chaparral leaves and small twigs on top of the oil or butter. He was to eat at least one half such sandwich every day. We made Chaparral vinegar (stuffed about 4oz of leaves and very resinous twigs into the partially emptied quart of apple cider vinegar) and told him to use 1-2 ounces each day on fresh leafy salads.

Then, we placed some 4-6 ounces of larger branches of Larrea into a 5-gallon bucket and poured hot water over them and had Oliver breath in as much of the steam as he could. Do this twice daily. Do not put Chaparral in the tub and soak I sternly warned him.

He or Irene could send messages with the mailboat as needed. YOU MUST BE COMPLIANT TO SURVIVE I insisted. My sons and I each ate a Chaparral-peanut butter sandwich before leaving.

We wondered about what happened to Oliver when we did not get any news for 2-3 months Eventually a happy note arrived exclaiming that Oliver was still alive and all well.

Thank you very much.

Circa ten years later in that same healthy food store, a strange man came up to me and asked if I was Ryan Drum? I allowed as how I was. "Thank you for saving my life!!!"

Who are you, I asked. Its me, Oliver, who took the Chaparral cure, he excitedly exclaimed. This is my son…… Greetings and hugs galore "I still remember the horrible taste and smell of that Chaparral and never want to taste or smell it again". OK.

Seven years later I got a frantic call from his then current wife who said he, Oliver, was in a terrible state of sickness, could I possibly help?

I asked her to elaborate before agreeing to anything. "Oliver had a hankering to just try a little of the remaining Chaparral tincture a few days ago and within about 24 hours, many of the symptoms of his illness from almost 20 years ago returned". Amazing.

I told her to have him walk a lot, drink excessive amounts of plain water and discard any and all bits and fluids remaining from his earlier Chaparral Blitzkrieg and to avoid Chaparral ever after. He has apparently and no further pathology echoes.

Thank goodness.

Lecture Notes for Ryan Drum. 25 th Breitenbush Herbal Gathering 8-11.September 2011

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