One more day down! I've got three days left and I'm counting down every minute. I'm not gonna lie. This process has proved how much I depend on food. That may sound like a no brainer but it's taught me how many times a day I want to eat. Whether it's a snack I want to "brighten the day" or dessert at night, I have realized I must eat a lot without paying attention. Hopefully I can remind myself that when I get those urges I need to reach for the carrots & celery instead of gluten free treats.
I keep thinking about what I want to have as my celebration meal this weekend. It may be because I'm dying to eat so bad that everything sounds good, but I think I need help :) let me know if you have any fun suggestions!
I joke that I'm dying to eat (and I am) but I know what I'm doing has a purpose. This isn't a diet or juice fast. In fact, I haven't lost any weight at all. It's something my doctor feels is necessary for the pain I'm going through right now. I've gotten used to the taste & don't hate it anymore! So everytime I think I wanna eat a handful of trail mix, I remind myself that I've pulled off going gluten, soy, sugar, dairy, corn, chicken & caffeine free... I think I can handle three more days! I mean really... My dog threw up on the kitchen floor this morning right as I was making my breakfast shake. The two looked quite similar & I got it down anyway so hell... I can do this!
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Day 3 of Liver Detox
As I write this I'm sitting here with a glass of green detox liquid. It's the end of day three and I have four more to go. Since I drink 4 glasses of this a day, this is glass number 12. Geez... I can't believe I'm actually doing this! I think I've finally gotten over the hump though. Day one was absolute torture. I could barely choke it all down and was a drama queen with my husband making fun of how gross it was. He shut me up by drinking some of it and saying he liked it. But it really did stink. I told him it was because he didn't HAVE to drink it.
Day two was better until the early afternoon. I started getting a headache, my muscles were aching and I was really distracted. I think it took me two hours longer to do what I needed to at work that day. I just kept staring at stuff. I've heard these are pretty typical side effects of detoxing so I'm not worried.
Day three has been much easier. I've figured out that combining everything into one drink rather than having two separate ones is
Day two was better until the early afternoon. I started getting a headache, my muscles were aching and I was really distracted. I think it took me two hours longer to do what I needed to at work that day. I just kept staring at stuff. I've heard these are pretty typical side effects of detoxing so I'm not worried.
Day three has been much easier. I've figured out that combining everything into one drink rather than having two separate ones is
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Mind Body Medical Center - (part 3 of Doctors, Detox, the Liver & Surgery)
Mind Body Medical Center is an integrative medical practice in Edgehill Village. From their website: "Mind-Body Medical Center was founded in 1991 by Stephen L. Reisman, M.D. with the goal of offering integrative medicine to his patients in the Nashville, Tennessee area. We provide comprehensive approaches to medical problems and emphasize the primary importance of learning and living in ways that promote health and prevent illness." You can read more about their office and philosophy here.
As soon as I walked in I loved the environment. Two wonderful women were working the front desk and knew who I was when I entered. How often does that happen when you go to the dr? My last dr appointment left me waiting an hour and a half before I was seen.
They schedule people so that there is no waiting and the paperwork was relatively short for being a new patient. I filled everything out and only waited a few minutes until Dr. Reisman came to get me. I'll be honest. He's an interesting guy. Interesting in the way a really smart, intuitive doctor is interesting. He studied my face as I talked, looked me in the eye and I could feel him thinking throughout the entire visit. He went through the general questions and when he looked at the paperwork I had filled out he smiled when he read my reason for being there. It was simple - something's missing and no one is talking to me about it. I'm over having surgery & you're one of my last hopes.
Through all of the gentle questions and great discussion, he awoke something in me with one question: "Has anyone ever talked to you about WHY you have endometriosis?" I sat in silence for a minute. "No" I answered, I guess not. It almost felt embarrassing. My only explanation was to say that I've only been told it just "happens" to a lot of women and I was one of them. He also asked me if any of my doctors had run any kind of blood test on me to check for vitamin issues or different chemical/hormone imbalances. The answer to that was the same resounding "no".
With his answer that followed, everything started to make sense. I've read a lot on my own about endometriosis and different natural treatments. It's what lead to discovering my food intolerances to gluten, dairy, refined sugar, caffeine, chicken & corn. And it lead to the acupuncture & qigong practices that I love. From Dr. Reisman, I learned that was only part of the solution. I've been treating my symptoms, not the root. I thought the food changes were the root... but I wasn't looking at the organ that plays the part.
He proceeded to explain how the liver is the organ which processes our
As soon as I walked in I loved the environment. Two wonderful women were working the front desk and knew who I was when I entered. How often does that happen when you go to the dr? My last dr appointment left me waiting an hour and a half before I was seen.
They schedule people so that there is no waiting and the paperwork was relatively short for being a new patient. I filled everything out and only waited a few minutes until Dr. Reisman came to get me. I'll be honest. He's an interesting guy. Interesting in the way a really smart, intuitive doctor is interesting. He studied my face as I talked, looked me in the eye and I could feel him thinking throughout the entire visit. He went through the general questions and when he looked at the paperwork I had filled out he smiled when he read my reason for being there. It was simple - something's missing and no one is talking to me about it. I'm over having surgery & you're one of my last hopes.
Through all of the gentle questions and great discussion, he awoke something in me with one question: "Has anyone ever talked to you about WHY you have endometriosis?" I sat in silence for a minute. "No" I answered, I guess not. It almost felt embarrassing. My only explanation was to say that I've only been told it just "happens" to a lot of women and I was one of them. He also asked me if any of my doctors had run any kind of blood test on me to check for vitamin issues or different chemical/hormone imbalances. The answer to that was the same resounding "no".
With his answer that followed, everything started to make sense. I've read a lot on my own about endometriosis and different natural treatments. It's what lead to discovering my food intolerances to gluten, dairy, refined sugar, caffeine, chicken & corn. And it lead to the acupuncture & qigong practices that I love. From Dr. Reisman, I learned that was only part of the solution. I've been treating my symptoms, not the root. I thought the food changes were the root... but I wasn't looking at the organ that plays the part.
He proceeded to explain how the liver is the organ which processes our
Doctors, detoxes, the liver & surgery (part 2)
(continued from part 1...)
With nothing else to do, I took the appointment that was 3 weeks away. After a week, I was in so much pain I could barely stay at work. I called the doctor's office to see if there was a cancellation list I could be put on. Turns out God was looking out for me because they called a few hours later with an open slot.
Meeting my new surgeon was great! She was bright, cheerful but to the point. It was when she laid everything out about how differently she wanted to treat things that I was really surprised. She made a comment that I wouldn't be put back on the same medication as before. She said it inherently didn't function the way I needed it to for endometriosis. Essentially I've been on the wrong thing for almost two years. It's no
With nothing else to do, I took the appointment that was 3 weeks away. After a week, I was in so much pain I could barely stay at work. I called the doctor's office to see if there was a cancellation list I could be put on. Turns out God was looking out for me because they called a few hours later with an open slot.
Meeting my new surgeon was great! She was bright, cheerful but to the point. It was when she laid everything out about how differently she wanted to treat things that I was really surprised. She made a comment that I wouldn't be put back on the same medication as before. She said it inherently didn't function the way I needed it to for endometriosis. Essentially I've been on the wrong thing for almost two years. It's no
Doctors, detoxes, the liver & surgery (part 1)
I feel like I'm on a Dr. merry-go-round. The traditional part of me says "don't question your doctors, they know what they're doing". But my body & mind are telling me something's missing. I've changed my diet, took the "compromise" medication, started practicing yoga & qigong & took steps to try and control my stress. I love all of my doctors each in their own way. I appreciate the years of study & practice in their careers. But it wasn't until this week that I began to feel cheated by all of them. A lot of this is personal and more than you might want to know but the blogging community has meant so much to me through all of my struggles I'm sharing this journey in hopes it might help someone like me who's searching too.
After years of following my doctor's suggestions & still having to go into surgery for the fourth time, I got sad. Really sad. How in the world can no one figure this out? What did I do wrong?
In my last year of desperation, I called Vanderbilt's Center for Integrative Health. I knew they had an integrative doctor who took insurance. That is so incredibly rare that I thought- this has to be the answer. I'd prefer to go to a friend's Integrative Dr at the Mind Body Medical Center but it's expensive and why do that when this doctor at Vanderbilt takes Humana? Upon calling for an appointment, they tell me there's a 4 month wait.... 4 months? This guy must be good. But unfortunately it will be too late then, I'll have to have surgery again before that but just in case, I made the appointment. Lucky for me, two months later, I got a cancellation appointment!
After years of following my doctor's suggestions & still having to go into surgery for the fourth time, I got sad. Really sad. How in the world can no one figure this out? What did I do wrong?
In my last year of desperation, I called Vanderbilt's Center for Integrative Health. I knew they had an integrative doctor who took insurance. That is so incredibly rare that I thought- this has to be the answer. I'd prefer to go to a friend's Integrative Dr at the Mind Body Medical Center but it's expensive and why do that when this doctor at Vanderbilt takes Humana? Upon calling for an appointment, they tell me there's a 4 month wait.... 4 months? This guy must be good. But unfortunately it will be too late then, I'll have to have surgery again before that but just in case, I made the appointment. Lucky for me, two months later, I got a cancellation appointment!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Meet Bama - the gluten free dog
My sweet, sweet Bama is 7 years old this week!! And of course we spoiled her with the annual birthday treat & scooby-doo hat party. Every year she tolerates wearing her party hat as long as she gets a great treat out of it! But before you judge and say "wow, they obviously don't have kids..." just know that this dog has been around for more of my life than my husband has and we've been through a lot together. I can attribute a lot of the happiness in my life to her. She's an amazing spirit and I'm lucky to have her!
This year we got her a gluten free birthday cake from See Spot Eat. Why gluten free? Well, the basic truth is... she was smelly. Really smelly. A few years ago, we were fed up with what was coming from our beloved
Quick update
I know it's been forever since my last post! I've been dealing with a fair amount of life stuff that's taken me away from the blog. There have been lots of good things (the husband coming home from 5 months in Hong Kong ;) and some challenging things (finding out I'm having a fourth surgery soon). But I'll be back on the bandwagon soon!
My diet has changed too so the recipes you'll see coming up will be a little different. Through some skin testing, I've found out that chicken and corn are being added to the list of caffeine, sugar, dairy & gluten intolerance. It was overwhelming at first but it's been really great to feel a bit better!! My husband is incredibly supportive as are my friends. Speaking of friends... I'm going to have a few posts about my friends coming up because I'm lucky to have amazing friends who cook gf meals for me! They have mastered adapting recipes when they don't have to and for that they deserve a post ;) They're not only amazing at being friends, they're amazing in the kitchen! I'm a lucky lady with great people in my life.
Until then!
;) April
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