Today’s Prompt: Word Cloud. Make a word cloud or tree with a list of words that come to mind when you think about your blog, health, or interests. Use a thesaurus to make the branches of your “tree” extend further. http://www.wordle.net/
I did a little bit of a different take on this prompt. I hope you like it.
Today was a breath-taking beautiful day. The sun was shining, it was in the 80’s F….yes the 80’s on the first day of March! A good friend of mine just got married! I’m so very thrilled for her, you may remember me passing along the candle lighter award to her….Congratulations Fiona and Jeremy…I adore you!
I slept longer than I have in a long time, I woke up with a minimal headache (my normal every day type of headache). I was still seeing double but it didn’t seem to last as long. I lounged in bed for a while with the window open and enjoyed my breakfast. Then I read a bit on the computer and decided to get dressed for the day. We were refinancing out house to a better rate, and we had to sign all the papers at the lawyer’s today, so I had places to go. I decided to start getting ready very early. About 2 1/2 hours early. Just in case. I wanted to do a little then rest, do a little more, rest…eat lunch….rest….you get the idea.
You would be so proud of me…I know I was. Darn I should have gotten a picture!! I French braided my hair. I’ve never been able to do that! It has always turned out lopsided or with straggling hairs, but usually it is a “Dutch” braid. A French braid lies flat against your head the Dutch braid is kind of backward, it looks like a braid stuck to your head….it sticks out. It’s kind of neat, but not what I wanted. And…imagine this, I did it on the FIRST try!!
I tried on a few things to wear, but the one’s that I don’t look like a blimp in were too hot, I admit I was getting sad and upset. Then I thought of a white tank top with an orange cap sleeved sweater over it that has one button around the abdomen that makes me look much thinner. I actually put on makeup!! I got ready, got dressed, and got down stairs….all by myself. I was beaming with pride.
Stuart and I decided if I felt well enough after our visit to the lawyer we would have a date night and go to Fishmonger’s. I LOVE crab legs. I know he just got them for me on Valentine’s day…but it was so nice to have a date night with my hubby. In a restaurant right across the street from where we met.
Fishmonger’s is one of those little seafood restaurants that make you feel like you are on the Carolina Coast.
I am having a very hard time with my hearing. Stuart needs to step up his ASL practice. On average I have to ask someone to repeat themselves at least 3 times, and after that I just drop it. It’s too embarrassing. And it’s usually just some small talk. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here, and I’m too tired to look back and finish this so I’ll give you the short version. Saw Audiologist on Monday. She thinks I’ll need a cochlear implant soon but the requirements change with insurance companies. We have new insurance starting this months. (they are going to love this) The first question Stuart is going to call and ask is what
their criteria is for covering a cochlear implant? The surgery cost between $30,000 and $100,000 and our out-of-pocket will be $150 Yay!!!
So I may have told you…forgive me.
So while we were out, it came time for my medication. All of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my head, I asked what time it was, exactly time for my medication! I asked if we happened to remember….ooops, nope. So I was 2 hours late taking it. By the time I got home, I was not able to walk unaided, I was slurring my words, I had to really concentrate to understand things…..it’s kind of funny, in a way I feel like I’ve taken some drug…like a downer or something. But it’s all being caused because I missed my medication. Ahhhh!
Right now I’m running a fever again. Every night, only at night. Strange huh? I take some Tylenol it goes away.
I still have a lot fo figure out with all of this, and it will take some time. It is apparent that I’m getting better with the side effects and I’ll probably get even better when I get some potassium (Diamox is known to deplete potassium.) I have been trying to eat a banana a day, but it’s hard when that’s the cap on the amount of fruit I can eat in one day. So we went to buy some and the store was out. How rude!
I’ve been watching these cooking shows and now I’m just dying to cook. But I need to be more steady on my feet for that. Perhaps I see some slow cooker meals in the future. (much less dangerous, I can just instruct Stuart.) I bought some herbs recently, and got a free ounce of Saffron….oh….what will I do with this delectable spice?
Also, if you have never heard of or tried Pot Herb – it is a mixture of Chives, Chervil, Parsley, Thyme, Marjoram, and Bay leaves. This was delectable in Chicken Soup..and just on chicken….I can imagine so many things to do with this blend…why have I never heard of this french blend of spices before?
So…
What a difference a day can make. Do I feel this much better from all the well wishes? The joyous feelings I have for my friend? The fact that the Topamax was uped? The beautiful weather (you know I got to take the top off!!), or have I once again, simply decided enough. I can’t stand to live with you like that! Get up! Pick yourself up…even if you need help, and find something that satisfies you. even something small…and build it up again.
That’s why I say those silly expectations I had for this life…they must be fluid now, and change as I do.
Thank you all for believing in me.
How many of us start to look at our lives and come up lacking in some way, especially around our birthday, or the beginning of the year. We make goals, or resolutions….sometimes we actually keep them.
This year is no exception for me. I knew I was getting close to my birthday because I started looking in the mirror with a more critical eye…humm, not as young as I used to be. Heck, I don’t even think I look as young as I did last year at this time. Gained a few pounds, more gray hair, a few more wrinkles, and these little dark patches on my face…could they be *gasp* age spots? {shudder} Yes, my illnesses over the past couple of years have worn me out.
I’m already trying to lose weight, 6 pounds so far! Now if I can just keep it up. I’m also trying to get some more exercise, that hasn’t been going as well as I’d like, I get dizzy every time I exercise. Hopefully, that won’t be the case much longer!
I thought about coloring my hair, but do I really want to put those chemicals on my hair. I finally got to the point where I think all of my hair is naturally my color. Yes, some of it is gray…but it’s me. I’ve always liked my cool gray streak on the left side, right in the front, but now it’s on the right side too. I don’t think I’m looking cool any more, just old. I’m thinking of putting a natural rinse on it to make it a little shinier, a little browner, and possibly make the gray look more like highlights. It should just wash out. If I decide to go this route, I promise I’ll post pictures.
For the wrinkles and dark spots (I will NOT call them AGE SPOTS!), I’ll use a bit more moisturizer, and perhaps some lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide applied to the spots will help lighten them. We’ll see. The hubby pointed out that there was a Groupon for a Chemical Peel. Ewww. I told him I was not vain enough to hurt for it! (I don’t really think he understands what a chemical peel is.) I can’t tell you why, but I got so tickled when I told him I wasn’t vain enough to hurt for it, I mean I just laughed and laughed. Stuart thinks it’s very amusing how I crack myself up sometimes.
I’m thinking I will go out and buy me a new outfit. Something that fits better, that makes me look more put together. In other words, not the over sized T-shirts and shorts I’ve been wearing.
I’ve also decided on joining a group on another blog Ton-Fifty-ONE is going to be having a workshop covering the book The Artist’s Way, by Julie Cameron. The workshop is 12 weeks long, and will start on July 4th. Just 2 days after my birthday, how fitting. I’ve owned this book for years, and I’ve tried to go through the process more than once, but I guess I’m either not good at following through something like this without a little push, or perhaps it was made me confront too many issues? I don’t know, but I’m willing to try it again, and I’m sure that with the push that a group will give me, I can do it this time. Just 12 weeks…3 months…to “discovering and recovering my creative self”. If anyone wants to join me on this journey please come along. I know I can use all the motivation I can get!
My creativity got bogged down by my chronic illnesses. My biggest goal this year is to use my creativity to help me with my illnesses. Help express myself… The words are failing me, I can’t seem to get out what I want to say. I guess I’m trying to say, I believe in art therapy….and so much more.
I posted this on my other blog Wendy Cooks, but thought it important enough to post it here too.
When you have a food allergy or intolerance it is very important to know what all the ingredients are in our medications. However, it can be hard to find reliable information about the inactive ingredients. I’ve asked my pharmacist to be sure to check the ingredients, but they are busy, and I’m sure some of them don’t actually check. When I was diagnosed with Fructose Intolerance (malabsorption), I asked my pharmacist to check to ensure there were no ingredients in my medications that would make me sick. He told me that I wasn’t on any liquid medications so I didn’t have to worry. I wasn’t really happy with that answer, so I looked up the ingredients in the medications I bought that day. I soon found that one of my medications had Mannitol in it, something I should not be taking. It was easy to rectify, I just called my doctor and got a prescription for the regular tablets. However, if I had taken the pharmacist at his word I would have wondered why I was continuing to get sick. (and unfortunately, I had to pay for 2 prescriptions)
I was looking at the Health Resources listed on my library’s website, and I found this wonderful site. Pillbox, is part of the US National Library of Medicine, it gives “rapid identification, (and) reliable information” on medications. Pillbox, has two ways you can check for your drugs.
One is a Quick Search, and one is the Advanced Search. I used the Advance Search, simply because I found it first. The Quick Search has photos of the medications, it is still under development, so some medications may not have photos.
In the Advanced Search, just fill in what you know about the medication, and it will give you a list, choose your medication and it will give you all the information you need. I tried it on a few of my medications, including an over the counter allergy medication. One I put in the name, one I just put in the description, and one I just put in part of a description. For most it found the medication I was looking for, the only one it didn’t find was one that is labeled as a pharmaceutical food supplement. It gave all of the ingredients on all of the medications except the over the counter allergy medication, but they are listed on the box.
I hope this will help you and give you more peace of mind about the medications you are taking (or giving to your children).
http://pillbox.nlm.nih.gov/index.html
Please let me know if you use the Pillbox site, and how well it works for you.
Feel free to comment and subscribe to my blog so you won’t miss a post.
First I would like to thank all of my contributors to the Meniere’s Treatments Series. I hope we all learned something (I know I did). I’m also hoping that this series will help those who are going through all of this understand that they are not alone. That not all treatments work for everyone, but there are many treatments out there and hopefully one will work for them.
Thank you to all who contributed, either through a guest post, or by commenting. This could not have worked without all of you.
It’s been a while since I posted about what’s going on in my life. So, on at the risk of boring you, here it is:
The biggest thing that is consuming my mind today is the trial against Paul Seelig. The man who is accused of selling bread as gluten free when in fact is wasn’t. I have to testify against him on Thursday. This is just so hard. I don’t want to see this man again. I don’t want to relive what he put me through. I read a post on Facebook by a woman who was at the trial yesterday. They were selecting the jury. She said that he kept chuckling. What could possibly be so dang funny? She also said that many potential jurors said they couldn’t be impartial because what he did was so horrible. Hmmm, what about innocent until proven guilty. I mean I know he’s guilty because I was there, but if I wasn’t I don’t think I could say that.
Of course, that is what I said the whole time all of this was going on. People were saying they were getting sick from the gluten free bread this man was selling, heck I was sick. But there was only a few people, and I thought I was sick from Meniere’s. I felt that people were publishing things on their blogs about his selling bread as gluten free before they really had any proof. Plus, he kept telling me that he was setting up a time for me to come in to his bakery and be there when he had testing done, so I could witness it. He even applied with the Gluten Intolerance Group to have his facility certified gluten free. I kept thinking, why would he do this if his products were in fact not gluten free.
However, even if he was guilty (as I now know he is) I felt that it was irresponsible for people to be publishing this without proof. And I didn’t feel like a home gluten test was enough. After all, we wouldn’t know if it was cross contaminated or not.
But the sad fact is, I believed him. He told me that he sold to the government and to hospitals. He said he only sold to the public because he wanted people to be able to have good gluten free bread.
I look back at the emails we wrote to each other and I feel so very stupid. Why did I believe this guy? I think I just couldn’t believe that anyone would purposefully contaminate people. And how could he be so stupid that he didn’t think he would get caught? He was making people sick, did he think they wouldn’t eventually put it together? I fell so betrayed. He must really have been thrilled to have had someone who was so gullible on his side.
Ok, enough about that. I’ll let you know how it goes after I testify, and then after the trial is over.
I have some good news. I was fitted for hearing aids last week. I will be getting them on the 8th. I’m very excited. Think of all the things I’ll be able to hear, that I can’t hear now. hehehe.
The fructose intolerance diet is going well. I saw the nutritionist on the 23rd. She put me on a pretty strict fructose elimination diet for 4-6 weeks. Then after my body starts absorbing nutrition again, I can try to add in new foods and see how I do. Right now, I’m doing so much better. No GI upset. I did have a little of one thing on my NO list, and I got so bloated, and gassy. Then within an hour I had a horrible migraine. I’m really hoping that once I get this food intolerance under control I will stop having so many migraines. (one can hope right?) According to our scales, it looks like I’ve lost about 2 pounds this week. Oh, I forgot to mention, the nutritionist told me I’m not eating enough. I’ve been trying to eat more calories since I saw her, but it’s really hard for me.
I joined Spark People, an online weight loss community, so I could log everything I eat and keep up with my symptoms and my calories. If you happen to be over there, look me up, my username is ONEARTSYCHICK.
One more piece of news. Stuart and I are starting classes on April 5th, to become Foster Parents. I may need a lot of advise from you who have children. Wish us luck!
As you can probably tell, the patches are still holding, and I’m not having any vertigo, and the disequilibrium is gone. Hearing is stable.
My hip is bothering me much more. I’m sure it’s because I’ve been doing more. But it’s a real pain….literally. I’m also having more trouble with the pelvic pain, I’m sure that’s because I’ve been feeling a little more amorous lately, since the world stopped spinning. However, just because I know why these things are bothering me more doesn’t mean it should be that way. I should be able to walk and not hurt, or have sex without pain. One thing at a time. Perhaps I will get there.
What’s going on with you these days?
I know I promised Part 2 of Treatments for Meniere’s as the next post, but I got some news today that I wanted to share. It may also go along with the last post.
Today I got the results of my Breath Tests, I talked about those previous posts. They tested for digestion issues, Lactose Intolerance, and Fructose Intolerance (otherwise known as Fructose Malabsorption). I have the later.
This is going to take some getting used to. As you probably know I already have to avoid gluten, this will just add to the things I can’t eat. I knew this may be a problem, but I never knew there would be so many things I wouldn’t be able to eat. I’m shocked actually.
According to the diet my doctor gave me there are only 9 vegetables I can eat. And after doing some research on this disorder on the web, I found that one of those vegetables are not recommended. I will be calling a nutritionist tomorrow morning to get in as soon as possible to help me with this.
Not only can I not eat fruit, and many vegetables, I can’t eat any sugar at all.
I don’t know if this aggravated my Meniere’s symptoms or not, but I’m sure it effected me in more ways than I know.
Life without chocolate…*sigh*.
In the next few posts I’m going to focus on some of the many treatments for Meniere’s and direct you different personal blogs for people who have tried these treatments so you can go and read how they have worked with other people.
Remember, different treatments for different people. Treatments that work (or don’t work) for some people, may not work (or work) for others. The important thing is that there are many options to help control our symptoms, and there are new options being developed. Don’t give up hope. I almost did and it nearly killed me. There is a big difference in accepting that we have this illness and giving up hope that something may help.
Of course the first treatments I should talk about are the treatments I have undergone.
Change your Diet – Normally, when you are first diagnosed with Meniere’s you are put on a Low Sodium diet. I’ve heard differing opinions as to how much sodium is enough without getting too much. At first I was told to keep my sodium intake at about 2,000 mg per day (1 teaspoon), then it was lowered to 1,000 a day, then I was told that wasn’t enough and I should shoot for 1,500. You should discuss with your doctor about a recommendation for you. The theory behind this treatment is that we have too much fluid in the endolymphatic system, and staying on a low sodium diet should reduce this fluid. This seems to work for many people. Even if it doesn’t totally relieve their symptoms, it helps, and I’ve heard many people say that when they have eaten too much salt their symptoms gets worse. How did this work for me? I continued to have attacks despite how little sodium I ate. I really didn’t see a difference for me. I don’t think a lot of sodium is good for anyone and I still don’t eat a lot of salt. I’ve gotten so used to not eating salt I really enjoy the taste of the food I’m eating without salting it. My total sodium consumption per day is normally between 1000mg and 1500mg.
I was also told to avoid alcohol and keep caffeine consumption to a minimum. I found that alcohol in a trigger. I can have a glass of wine now and then, but that’s about it. If I consume too much alcohol, for me that means a couple of drinks, then I get dizzy and that can trigger a vertigo attack. I don’t consume much caffeine at all. I will have the occasional small piece of Dark Chocolate, and I may drink one drink with caffeine in it once a week or less. I don’t feel great when I consume too much caffeine, but I’ve never felt like it triggered my Meniere’s.
Some people have a hard time with too much sugar, chocolate, nicotine…
I don’t eat a lot of sugar, if I do have too much I find that I get very jittery and can get dizzy. I love a good little piece of Dark Chocolate. I only have a small amount when I eat chocolate, usually less than an ounce. It doesn’t seem to cause me any problems. However, Milk Chocolate has too much sugar and I can only have it in very small quantities.
I’ve never smoked, so nicotine isn’t a factor for me. However, I have problems being around cigarette smoke.
Avoid triggers – I know this isn’t necessarily diet, but it could be if you are allergic, or intolerant to different foods. Different people have different triggers. Some people have food allergies and they can be a trigger. I have a wheat allergy and can’t tolerate gluten at all, so I have cut that out of my diet. This did improve my symptoms. Especially the brain fog.
I also have asthma, but it isn’t bad. However, if I am around strong scents (like perfume, cigarette smoke, or gasoline, among others) I will have an asthma attack. I have found this to be a trigger for me, so I try to stay away from strong scents.
Many people who have allergies find that they will increase their symptoms. I suffer from allergies (grass, some trees, dust…). Whenever my allergies are acting up, my Meniere’s symptoms get worse.
Stress – Stress is often a trigger for Meniere’s patients. I think stress can be a trigger for me, but I’m not sure. Sometimes when I had increased stress I would have an attack, other times I wouldn’t. I think stress is hard on anyone for many reasons, not just Meniere’s, so I suggest you try to reduce your stress as much as possible.
Again, this is just my experience. Everyone is different. You can read more about treatments for Meniere’s on Meniere’s Info.com.
Next post: Treatment of Meniere’s Part 2 – Medication
Please comment on your experience with changing your diet. Have you tried this? Did it help? Did your doctor tell you something different?
There is nothing like having a camera stuck down your throat. Yes I have a sore throat now, and my tummy is not feeling great. I think they topped the gas off too. Whew!
Well, this test shows I have Acid Reflux, and a little Gastritis. (he still wants me to have the CT scan to make sure my bowels aren’t doing something funny where the cameras just don’t reach. I thought, geez, you put a camera up one way, now you’ve put a camera down the other way, you mean there is still more you can’t see?)
My official paper that he gave me says that my “Z-line is irregular, 37cm from incisors”, and I have “Gastric mucosal abnormality characterized by erythema. Biopsied.”
Ok, so I looked up with a Z-Line Irregularity means. It mainly appears to mean that it shows I have acid reflux, but I’ll know more after the biopsy. And the 37cm from incisors is just how they measure where the Z-Line starts in people (or maybe where the irregularity is). Mine is 37 cm (or 14.6 inches) from my front teeth.
The other part: “Gastric mucosa abnormality characterized by erythema.” Simply means I have a little bit of gastritis but it’s not bleeding. Erythema means that it’s read and inflamed but it turns white when you press on it, so no bleeding. (hopefully) It also sounds like I have a bit too much mucus.
He put me on Prevacid. I’ve been on this medication before, for years actually. I don’t like being on this for so long, but I’ll do it for now. He also told me to follow an anti-reflux regimen indefinitely. That should be fun.
This is the Anti-Reflux Diet:
NO:
Ok, so most of these are no big deal for me, but NO TOMATOES? or even worse NO ONIONS? If you have read my recipes you will know that I cook with onion and garlic all the time!
What I can eat and drink:
This is going to be a challenge. The biggest challenge will be, No tomatoes (I love a good tomato sauce, I can’t stand them raw, but I love a good sauce.) No Onions! Oh my goodness. What will I do? I found there is an Indian herb called Asafoetida that when used in cooking gives the flavor of onion and garlic. I guess I will try that. Supposedly before it is cooked it smells like stinky feet and poop…that should be interesting. Oh, and cheese, that will be hard. But I guess I can use vegan cheese. I do like the Dayia Cheese.
As I said, a challenge, especially since we have a lot of cheese in the house. 🙂 Hopefully, it will make my tummy feel better, and I can stop running to the bathroom so much. That will make it all worth it I guess.
There are many things I want to accomplish during this coming year.
Of course, I want to get the Meniere’s under control.
I want to figure out what is going on with my gut and get that fixed, including taking off this weight I’ve gained.
I want to exercise more. I love to work out in a pool. I just ordered some of the equipment that we used when I had physical therapy in a pool so I could do the exercises on my own. (a flotation belt so I can exercise in the deep end without sinking, webbed gloves for resistance, and weights for my ankles to help with aqua walking and toning.)
I also ordered a heart rate monitor so I can keep up with that when I’m working out other ways. (my heart tends to beat a little too fast too soon, so I have to keep an eye on that.)
Stuart and I have decided that we want to start living more in line with our beliefs. Stop buying so much stuff we don’t need. Start buying things that are used instead of new. Stop creating so much trash. Start buying closer to home.
We are going to try very hard to not buy anything new in 2011. I’m looking at it as a smaller goal, I plan to say – Nothing new in January, then if I can do that, then Nothing new for the next 2 months, and build up. I’m afraid if I say, Nothing new for a whole year, I’m just dooming myself to failure. (of course, this doesn’t include food, necessities like soap and stuff, and we’ve agreed if we need underwear it will be bought new.) It also doesn’t include services we may need, or the raw materials I need for my art. I am trying to create recycled art, but there are still some things you just have to buy. (I’m hoping to find some of this on Craig’s list, or Free Cycle.)
I hate to admit that we did go on a spending spree at the end of the year in anticipation of this upcoming year. I’ve been wanting a new vacuum cleaner for so long, and I wasn’t going to wait another year for it!
Buying nothing new is going to be hard. But I think we can make a good go of it.
I also want to eat healthier. I need to get my cholesterol down (well my triglycerides, the rest is fine).
As most of you know I’ve taken on the challenge to make at least one meal a week from S.O.L.E. (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) ingredients. This has been a challenge during the winter months, there just isn’t that much local produce at this time of year. But I’m enjoying the challenge.
Next, I’m taking on a challenge of going Vegan or at least Vegetarian for 21 days starting January 3rd. I’ll take it one day at a time, but cutting out a substantial amount of saturated fat from my diet should lower my triglycerides.
I want to spend more time with my friends, and I want to make more friends who have the same interests I do. It’s hard for me sometimes to go to parties and see how much is being wasted, and so many people don’t bother to recycle. We are the only people in our group of friends who have a composter. I also think it’s important to use cleaning products that are safe to the environment. I feel like many of our friends do some things, but when it’s not convenient they don’t try. I feel like we’ve fallen into that trap sometimes too. For example, getting take-out. What could be more wasteful? At least when we eat at a restaurant they reuse the dishes and utensils.
We would rather spend our money on visiting friends and family. Or giving to the charities we believe in. We are tired of being wasteful.
In a nutshell what we have planned for the New Year is:
Are you making any resolutions or plans for the New Year? I’d love to hear about them.
Happy New Year to one and all!
As I posted on my Gluten Free Greenie Blog I’ve unofficially taken on the 4th Annual Dark Days Challenge from the(not so) Urban Hennery.
The challenge is to make a meal a week during the winter using SOLE food ingredients. (Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical).
This week I made Field Peas in my Slow Cooker, Sauteed Broccoli Raab, and Mashed White Sweet Potatoes.
If you are interested in the recipes please see my post on Gluten-Free Greenie.
Picnic with Ants 