Me and my birthday salad: My friend Laura thought this up. I thought the tomato with the candle was so cute and original.

Today I’m on the 9th day of a 21 Day Purification Cleanse. This cleanse has made me feel young and energetic. Brain fog went out the door with the gluten. Pain from all the tendonitis was down to a 2 or a 3 most of the time. Life was good.

On days 1-10 of the cleanse you are only allowed to eat fruits, vegetables, quinoa, approved oils, and the protein shakes and supplements that come with the cleanse. I have been eating delicious smoothies, vegetarian vegetable soup, and salads.

This soup was a life saver! Loved it! I made it with black-eye peas, lima beans, okra, turnip root, carrots, green beans, a pinch of salt, Rotel tomatoes, minced onions, minced garlic, black pepper, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Thyme, Oregano, and Basil. Why do I have this need to capitalize the spice names??

Then on day 7 I saw my cardiologist, and they put me on Rythmol. This is a serious drug to treat my ventricular tachycardia.

I took my first dose of it, in addition to the Inderal I was already taking Friday night. Saturday morning I woke up and realized that Rythmol and I were not going to get along. I felt horrible. I checked my blood pressure: low but not bad low. I figured I just needed to get used to the new medicine.

I took another full dose Saturday morning, and I spent the entire day in bed. My head is whoozy, nausea comes and goes, my chest occasionally feels tight, and the fatigue does not play.

By Sunday morning, I decided that you can’t pay me any money to take another whole dose of this medicine. I think they are trying too hard to help me. I felt much better just taking the Inderal. My PA wrote out instructions for me that said, “If the new drug gives you low blood pressure, cut the dose in half, and call the doctor.”

Done. That’s my new plan. I did research on Rythmol today on the internet. I didn’t like what I found. I have seen it described as a “last chance” drug and a drug for “life-threatening arrhythmias” because the side effects can be so bad, and in some people it can actually cause arrhythmias.

In fact, most of the sources said things like, “used to treat life threatening arrhythmias like ventricular tachycardia.”

(Sources: Slideshow, WebMD, MedicineNet.com)

Heh?

My first thought is, “Am I missing something? I’m not THAT bad off.”

Have any of you ever taken this heart medication? I wonder if it gets better as your body gets used to it. They gave me this drug to help me, but I’m calling it my “frienemy” because I was finally feeling better before, and now I feel like I got ran over by, I don’t know, a bicycle or something. After all, it could always be worse.

I only took half of the Rythmol this morning, but I still felt nauseous, sluggish, and tired. My medication timer just went off, and I’m having this inner battle. There isn’t a single part of me that wants to take even one more half dose! I think I’ll skip it, y’all. It is nasty stuff.

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My precious friend Cassie brought us this yummy-licious chicken and veggie dish. We loved it. Thank you, Cassie! I need this recipe!

I know I keep mentioning the cleanse but not fully explaining it. I’m sorry about that.

First, here’s the website: Standard Process

I found out about the cleanse from my chiropractor. He knew I’ve been having a hard time, so he recommended this. It’s supposed to help clear out inflammation while also helping you figure out what foods may be causing you reactions. You eliminate all of the classic food allergy or intolerance foods for 21 days: no eggs, gluten, grains, dairy, no added sugar, no preservatives. You try to eat as cleanly as you can, mostly organic.

My favorite breakfast “shake”: (I don’t know why they call it a shake. It’s dairy free. It’s a smoothie, people.)

-1 whole banana

-1 overflowing handful of frozen strawberries

-1 teaspoon of coconut oil (Yep!)

-2 scoops of protein mix from Standard Process

-1 scoop of Whole Food Fiber from Standard Process

-around 8 ounces of water

-about 5 giant spinach leaves                                                                                                                                                 —

SO GOOD!!!! (I never measure anything. I know. This is why I could never write a cookbook.)

I am the only one here doing this. The rest of the family is still getting plenty of meat and potatoes. Don’t worry.

I have felt WONDERFUL during the cleanse. Actually, I started feeling better even just from cutting gluten. I’m hoping that when I finish my 21 days, I can still stick mostly to only cutting gluten. I want my oats and cheese back!

OH! Also, I lost 5 pounds, but that was mostly because I felt too horrid to get out of bed and eat yesterday, thanks to the heart medication. Before that, I ate too much fruit to lose weight.

Glorious news for this week: 

Tuesday is day 11, and on day 11 you get to add meats!  Can’t wait!!!

Okay. This post made me hungry. Time for a “midnight shake”….

The post The Purification Cleanse and the “Frienemy” Drug appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Things are looking up for me.

“For you did not receive a spirit that made you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” —Romans 8:15

It has been a great comfort to me to remind myself: God already knows what is wrong with me. He knows what is happening and where it’s headed. I have only to buckle up and trust Him.

First, let me tell ya what a relief it is to have some answers to the heart question.

What do you call your doctor when she’s a physician’s assistant? PA Carlquist? I don’t know what to call her, but she has been a great help to me. She came right in to the appointment and got to the point. She had her computer open and she said, “Well, the good news is we know what it is, but it’s not so good.”

Surprise! Wait. Someone actually is holding a piece to this puzzle. I didn’t even know enough about hearts to be worried. I’m not medical at all. I’m just happy someone does know.

It’s called Ventricular Tachycardia, and I was impressed with the simple way she explained it. She said that it’s like there’s an anarchist down in the lower part of my heart. The upper area is in charge of the rhythm, but occasionally the anarchist rises up and takes over, which is not good. The thing is that he throws off the beat and goes too fast. (Yes, an anarchist absolutely must be a HE. HA!) Then the true leader takes back over.

The problem showed up when I did the overnight heart monitor, at 12:44am, for six beats, so there’s a possibility that it could be caused by my not getting enough oxygen in my sleep. Although, I’m not sure if that explains why it happens sometimes during the day. I’ll have to ask.

They changed my medications, which I am adjusting to this weekend. I am so fatigued!! After three weeks of having my energy back, this is hard.

Let me tell you why I like Cardiology PA Carlquist so much. For starters, I feel comfortable enough with her to tell her what needs to be told. I often freeze up with other doctors. She is good about answering my questions too.

I saw her looking at the toes funny, so I explained, “Oh, yeah, my toes are just purple because I have Raynaud’s syndrome, but it doesn’t bother me too much. It’s always been more of a party trick.”  Ha!

She made a note of the purple toes in her computer. Then she went on to explain that the doctor may want to do a ventricular ablation to turn off the ventricular tachycardia. This is a procedure where they go in through your thigh and run a catheter up to your heart and work on the problem that way. The advantage to this is that I would not need medicine anymore, once it’s done.

So I still needed a follow-up appointment with this doctor. He is difficult to get an appointment with.

“I’ll walk you to the desk and see if I can speed the process up a little,” she said. (See, this lady is AWESOME sauce.)

We walk out, and lo and behold, there’s the doctor that specializes in electrical heart problems, standing right there eating an apple!

My PA sent me back to my exam room. She stood out there and talked to the doc for a good five minutes. Then they both came in. I thought he’d just stick his head in for a minute, but no. He pulled up a patient chair, sat down, and asked me questions.  It was a good visit. Of course, I forgot to tell him about the fevers, but I haven’t had too many of those lately.

He decided that he wants me to have an MRI, which we don’t expect to find anything bad on. He also wants me to wear a loop recorder for a week to get more information on the problem. (Last time I only wore it for 24 hours.) Then he asked me to come to the clinic any time that I have symptoms: palpitations, light-headedness, dizziness, so they can have an EKG recording of when it’s actually happening.

That EKG part will never happen. The heart medicine keeps it under control so well that I do not have heart problems so long as I’m taking it, thankfully!

So there you have it. I may or may not need to have the surgery. We’ll see. More tests…fun, fun, fun.

I need to send my PA a thank you note. She saved me another month of waiting for a doctor appointment by bringing the doctor in on the spot like that. Doesn’t it make you feel good when people go the extra mile?

The doctor was very calm about it all, but he did say, “I don’t want to freak you out or anything,” about something.  I laughed.

They both laughed at me when they saw the writing on my hand. I write reminders to myself on my palms, and people often chuckle about that.

Oh, one more little funny for ya:  The doctor said, with the utmost of seriousness, as he had only just met me, “Now we need to talk about it, if you’re wanting to have children sometime…”

Haaaaaaa!!!!! I didn’t even wait for him to finish.  “Oh, don’t worry about that. I have four children, and we are done now.”

Ha! Can you imagine? No, I’m half kidding. I adore babies, and I love my children more than life itself, but that time of life has passed for me. I’m okay with that.

*************

Ventricular Tachycardia:

–Definition: condition in which lower chambers of heart beat quickly

–Rare, especially under age 60

–Symptoms: light-headedness, palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, cardiac arrest

(Obviously, I have not had cardiac arrest.)

–Causes: heart disease, cardiomyopathy, genetics

(I do not know what the cause of mine is.)

-Risks: Cardiac arrest (where the heart stops beating), heart attack

For more info: Healthline article

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My hip problem: Iliotibial Band Syndrome. 

My physical therapist works on this every week. My IT band is so tight, if you touch it I want to cry. I’m supposed to be rolling it at home everyday with a rolling-pin, but oh man, I don’t want to! I have it in both legs, but the right side is way more severe.

–Definition: inflamed illiotibial band–This ligament rubs against the thighbone causing pain. (The IT band runs from the iliac crest down to your shin.)

–Causes: For me, an abnormal pelvic tilt—Either it’s causing the tilt, or the tilt is causing the angry ligaments. I’m not sure.

–Symptoms: tender to the touch, knee swelling, pain with bent knee, pain using stairs, popping sound with extended knee

This thing quiets down sometimes and only hurts if I touch it, or if the kids sit too close to me, touching my leg. Other times, it gets so bad that it’s hard to even walk. I bought a cane in January, but then it improved. Phew! Let’s hope I don’t have another month like this past January ever again.

For more info: MedicineNet article

*******

Is there an overarching problem causing all this mess? Well, I have yet to prove it if there is, so for now, I have this heart problem, with no known cause, IT band syndrome, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and occasional fevers.

Thankfully, the heart meds help, and being gluten-free has been surprisingly beneficial. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it first hand, but I have had 100 times more energy ever since I cut gluten from my diet. I am fully functioning again, and it is a wonderful feeling!

I don’t know if the gluten is what made the difference or not. The key is that the mystery fevers are gone, because those drained me. Plus, I’ve adjusted to the new medicine, so it isn’t making me tired anymore.

Thank you so much, all of you, who are following along on my little tale of woe. And most of all, thank you to those who have prayed!! It has made a world of difference.

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;

my hope comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress. I will not be shaken.”      Psalm 62:5-6

For the next part of this story: Click here: The Frienemy Drug

The post Health Update: Ventricular Tachycardia, My Favorite Doctor, and Tendonitis Everywhere appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Have you ever tried to be gluten-free? Before you roll your eyes, let me assure you that I’m not about to try to convince you to join me on this.

I’m trying this, at the recommendation of my cardiologist, in order to feel better.

Can I get a tee-shirt that contains that explanation because I feel like such a trendy hippie or diet-nut at parties now.

“Are these gluten-free?”

I don’t want to be that guy. Maybe I should just start carrying food around in my purse.

I turned down CAKE at a party the other day. Ice cream cake!!! I felt like such a heel.

“Did your mama just turn down cake?” “I don’t know the woman.”

I’m so new at this that I mistakenly eat gluten every single day still. The other day I was so very proudly chomping away at my salad, thinking, “Mmmm Mmmm MMMmmmm,” and then I realized, “Oh. I just ate like 10 croutons, which I’m sure had no gluten at all…..”

Oops.

The other night, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I told Alan, “Please go to any store that you can find open (on a Sunday night), and buy me some gluten-free bread.”

Alan came home, with get this, a NINE dollar loaf of gluten-free bread.

Did? What? How did?  Nine!!!!!! Nine dollars!!!

Now if you know Alan, then you also now officially know that Alan loves me more than life itself because Alan does not buy over-priced things. I’m not even sure if Alan buys reasonably priced things. Alan believes in saving money.

Nine dollar bread.

So I’ve gained like 5 pounds since Sunday, and it’s only Tuesday, because goodness knows we cannot possibly let a single slice of that loaf go bad before it is consumed. It was obviously spun out of gold.

Again, it cost nine dollars. Nine.

I’m pretty sure we will never do that again, but Alan knew how desperate I was for bread that night. Thank you, Honey!

My favorite restaurant in the world: Cracker Barrel. Gluten or no gluten. Some things are worth the pain.

I’ve always said that our lives are in the hand of the Lord, and He will guide us if we only ask him to, and he provides, oh, he always provides. The whole time I’ve lived here, in California, I’ve thought, “Geesh. Why are so many of my friends gluten-free? It must be a California thing.”

Ha! I happen to be in the exact perfect place to learn affordable tricks for eating this way, mostly due to my friends Joy and Lacy.

I am so thankful!

Did you know? “Up to 25% of people who have psoriasis also may be sensitive to gluten.”  https://www.psoriasis.org/treating-psoriasis/complementary-and-alternative/diet-and-nutrition/gluten-free-diet

My first mission is to buy a bread maker, lest I feel tempted to buy any more nine dollar bread. I’m looking for a second-hand one because so many people get these for wedding gifts and never use them. Any of you have one you’d like to sell me?

Thankfully, my friend Lacy also said that you can buy gluten-free bread at Trader Joe’s for much less than nine dollars. Ha! Phew!

I haven’t actually completed a whole gluten-free day yet, but I’m making small changes, one at a time. Last week was a true low point, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I began to wonder if I’d ever get to just feel normal again.

It’s been so depressing to be so uncomfortable all the time!

Today has been a serious victory. Every morning I carefully pull myself out of bed, wondering, “What will hurt this morning?” But today I have felt normal!!! Two days of total normalcy!!  I didn’t realize what a toll all the aches, pains, and fevers were taking on me. It is so much easier to be happy when your body doesn’t feel like it’s clamping down on you!

I don’t know if cutting out gluten will help me or not, but it’s worth a shot. Either way, let me tell ya, this whole process has given new meaning to the verse “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”  (Proverbs 27:1)

Each day that I feel well, I have this sense of urgency, wanting to get as much done as possible, in case tomorrow I just can’t. However, I don’t want to live under that kind of pressure.

I figure the best I can do is draw close to God, weep when I need to weep, laugh as much as possible, and eat the best that I can. No need for stress. Trust the Lord, and make wise choices. That’s all any of us can do anyway.

I’m off to bake something chocolate with my gluten-free flour. Now I’d like to see just one of them try to take my chocolate away from me.

The post You can have the gluten, but you’ll never get the chocolate! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.