Sunday, September 13, 2009

A week of being healthy - ends sickly

So for the most part I followed my diet.  I didn't eat red meat or pork.  I am now drinking unsweet tea (God what kind of southerner have I become!) and eat more veggies than ever before.  I lost a little weight and yes my pain level has gone down just like the doctor's book promised. 

However I had a celiac episode on Saturday.  I picked up take out for my husband and I on Friday night.  I ordered a chicken salad for me (at a trusted gluten free restaurant).  I know I am not suppose to eat any meat for the first two weeks but the book did say if you couldn't resist to at least stick with chicken - I did not fail too miserably on that!  Apparently though I ran into some cross contamination.  By morning I was doubled over in pain with tear streaming down my face.  Not very great timing however (because I had just brought my son home at 3am and at 6am the house was quiet for once).  My husband lay awake with me holding me in his arms.  It would have been one of those moments you look back on later in life and smiled about.  However about 10 minutes into our storybook moment I started having stomach pains.  Within 15 minutes I was doubled over and crying.  Here's a tip for you Celiac's out there that get these stomach pains - a heat pad dulls the pain down a bit.  What did I do but wrap the heating pad around my stomach sighing that my moment had been broken by this disease I live with. 

Let me digress a bit and say - I know what I have is not as bad as others out there have.  I am at risk for diseases such as stomach cancers and others that are not so pleasant however on a daily basis this disease has just made me change my lifestyle.  Know this though, even though I always remind myself it could be worse, Celiac changes who you are and your family around you.  There is a constant stress of cross contamination.  My husband and child are always on guard as am I.  There is no relaxing when it comes to this and there are days it is tiring.  There are also days like Saturday morning when it's a darn inconvenience! 

Anyhow let me step off my soap box and continue my journal of this week. I spent all of Saturday morning and most of the afternoon in pain and sick.  I did get to sleep a little which made this a bit bearable to deal with. By Saturday night I was feeling better but plain wore out.  Exhaustion always comes after a battle with Celiac as well as only sleeping from 3am to 6am the night before!  So I curled up with my husband a little after 9pm and crashed.

This morning I woke up feeling like my head was going to split in two, my throat was going to crack from being dry and in pain and well I'd just say "stuffy nose" doesn't even cover how congested I was today!  I am trying to figure out how I got sick.  My kid has been kicking a virus for over a week yet I've managed to stay well through it all.  Something I always strive for since it takes me twice as long to heal as everyone else (something else Celiac has gifted me with).  However the day he is finally feeling great I am down and out (mmm maybe the little bugger snuck in and passed to me when I wasn't on guard).  That meant today was a day of being on the couch and feeling miserable.

Now it's almost midnight.  I feel better except for my stomach is hurting again though this time I think it's from an upset stomach not Celiac.  The pain is too "normal" to be Celiac!  I figured now would be a great time to update everyone about my journey.

I did managed to stay on my diet for the most part all week and all weekend.  Kudos to me for getting that win.  Yes even though I failed from time to time I call it a win. You have to take the wins where you can get them.  However do I feel tremendously more healthy - heck no.  Do I feel like this is going to lead to health, no pain, and all of that.  No not at this time.

I do know that I have only taken a few steps in my journey and that I have a long road ahead of me.  So I will try to find sleep tonight and then take another step tomorrow!

Where is yoru path leading you today - where will you let it take you tomorrow and what will your win be?

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Preliminary is NOT looking Good

I  just want to say if this is any indication of how this is going to go I should probably stop now!  My plan was to start on Sunday (isn't that what everyone does - pick a day to start)!  Then my pain levels shot up and I told my husband - I have to start this now I cannot be in pain any longer. Let me stop here and say never EVER start a diet without a plan and without the food to back up the plan!!! Okay I am sure at this point most of you are nodding your head and saying "duh" but hey a girl can make a mistake right!?

So back to my down fall...being the great husband he is, he fixes me a salad for dinner last night.  I eat it begrudgingly. Just so you know when I say begrudgingly I mean complaining and whining the whole time I am eating it all the while him telling me I eat this salad all the time and the only difference is there is no lunch meat in this one.  Let me tell you the lunch meat makes ALL the difference!  All in all I think I did pretty good last night.  No sweet tea, no junk and no meat. 

Then I woke up this morning thinking what does one eat for breakfast that has no sugar and no meat in it.  So I came up with a boost (I am sure that has sugar but I tend to come down sick if I skip them) and a banana.  Not a bad start at all.  Then around 10:00 I am STARVING!  So I opt for some cheese.  Now here it is at 12:30 and I am STARVING again!  So I look and look for something to eat. 

Here is my downfall ladies and gentleman....  I decide a veggie made pizza on gluten free crust is the perfect thing!  I mean yeah the sauce probably has sugar and I don't think I am suppose to be eating anything white (okay I know I am not but come on I am hungry!).   So my compromise was a gluten free veggie pizza with water (instead of sweet tea)!  There I think that's fair.

Okay so not a great start to a good idea.  What do I do from here.  Lick my fingers clean of pizza sauce and try again.  Oh and maybe I should get the plan and food in place too!  mmm something to think about!

Wish me luck (next time) and I hope you are having luck with your journey to get healthy!

God Bless (and Lord please keep the pizza away from me)!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Healthy in Body, Heart and Soul - the beginning

So let's start with my health.  I was diagnosed with Celiac in March of 2008. Recently I was diagnosed with AS (ankylosis spondylitis) as well. Before all of this I was told I have disc degenerative disease and poly arthritis. I have had countless surgeries in the past to include a hysterectomy and gallbladder surgery.  Medically I am a mess!

Physically I am a mess too.  I have gained way too much weight and I would love to say it's because I have all these medical reasons but reality is I've let myself get to where I am.  I know weigh at least 80lbs over what I should.  I tend to say well let me eat this and then I won't do it again and I'll get back on track or well I am really stressed out and need this food right now.  I have all sorts of excuses (running of your own- give me a call)!

Mentally - well I am tired.  I am stressed about daily life things (like everyone else), I still have my childhood "wrongs" to deal with (though I think I've dealt with most of them some keep popping up), I miss my mom who died when I was 17 and well - let's just say mentally I could use some pick me ups here!

So what does that leave - oh yea my soul.  That seems pretty important - so with all of this going on I want to continue my spiritual journey as well.  Where am I headed?  Well hopefully on God's path - but I guess we'll have to see.

So, on Monday after running some errands I was driving home thinking about my weekend.  Plain and simple it was tough.  I hurt so bad and felt very helpless about it all.  I ended up staying up until 2am last night and during that time I did a lot of thinking.  I thought about how I got to where I am, I thought about my past and all the pain and suffering I endured and I thought about why I wasn't moving forward to being healthy now in all parts of my life.

So the solution - I am going to blog my way to a healthy body, heart and soul!  I figured if I had to write it down and be accountable I'd be more than willing to follow through with it.  Truth be told - I am just tired of the pain, the weight, the emotional roller coaster, the diseases, the mental issues, and feeling lost spiritually - well I guess EVERYTHING and like my husband says "if you don't like it then fix it".

So I start my journey with a plan (well sorta).  I am going to start on my health first.  So I am reading up on a book by my doctor called "Diet for a pain free life".  I think I am going to start there.  From there who knows but at least I have a starting point!

So come along on my journey with me - let me know your thoughts, what you are going through and anything else you want to tell me about!  I look forward to moving well forward :)

God Bless!