So the last post was a bit gloomy. That's quite alright because this blog is meant to capture all aspects of dealing with an illness. I'm keeping it real for you guys. ;)
I remember reading about different struggles of people with autoimmune diseases when I was at my complete worst. I remember reading a blog of a woman blown up looking disfigured and not even like herself from the corticosteroids that she was taking. Paraphrasing here but she said something to the affect of: "I used to be a beautiful girl, and now I resemble nothing of my former self. I never knew what it was like to not be beautiful. This disease has taken nearly everything." The medication can really have some crazy side affects. I really freaked myself out 2 years ago when I googled Lupus and a bunch of video's popped up of blown up disfigured looking woman. Of course I'm sure all of the worst cases end up on youtube. But that was actually my biggest motivator to search for alternative treatment. Me and my idealistic self, I frequently spouted to my grandmother. "I'd rather die than to have my dignity taken away from me. I'd rather die than be some blown up half alive person." After seeing those video's I burst into tears while sitting in one of the school computer labs. Nobody else was around! I called someone who I thought would understand, my guy friend who had mild autoimmune disease problems and had been going to a rheumatologist. He let me pour out all of my fears to him. It meant a lot. Of course this whole time I was SUPPOSED to be doing school work. lol Yeahhh...pretty hard to concentrate.
So illness can really be a tough thing to go through. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. With cancer one can obviously lose their hair and such. So of course this does not apply just to autoimmune diseases.
So I'm progressing with adjusting to not being a sick person anymore. My friend April said, wow Davea you are much happier than before. :)) I am! ...the adjustment takes time. I have my days where I get down about how crazy the situation was of course. I'm planning a water skiing trip with some friends. We're going to be staying on an island up near Toledo. Physical things like this that I can do now all add into my appreciation of how well I'm doing and the satisfaction that comes along with that.
So I'm doing MUCH MUCH better than before. I can even eat dairy again. I can eat packaged gluten free items as well. I cannot do soy. No soy and no gluten.
Why the quick healing hmmm?? I stopped eating frozen fruit. That was my big change. I previously read before that fruit is one of the last things that people can usually add back in. I was eating it before because I felt like I needed something to keep my sugar levels up. The beef and rice did not seem to be cutting it and at that time I could not to do vegetables. I was just trying anything I could.
I haven't had a day where I was feeling fatigued from something that I ate in about a month. Since I stopped eating soy and started mixing up my diet. I think that I actually had become intolerant to the rice because I had eaten it so much. I started to get sleepy when I eat it. It was necessary for me to eat the same food over and over for a while until I healed enough to be able to eat more food. It's a great feeling. I also occasionally eat at restaurants. I try no to do this too much because you never know about the cross contamination. I take more bank on a more expensive place being more careful with my food. Although they are really, really considerate at Chipotle. The one off of Howe in Akron is the one I am referring to.
I need to pay my doctor in Columbus a visit for a check up. I've been pretty busy and the drive is far. Also because I am doing so well nothing feels as pressing. But that does not mean one should not keep up with the Jone's of themselves?? :p Did that make sense?? haha.
Also with being able to eat like I can...I still need to be healthy with the occasional snacks and such! See when you're not super sick it takes a different kind of discipline to keep up the healthy. Although I always have more energy when I eat lots of vegetables. I mean somedays I'll eat like a couple pounds of brussel sprouts. lol. :)
I feel like my old self again. I also work out a lot now. I can run, do sit ups, and do push ups. I'm training for my national guard physical fitness test. I haven't had the opportunity to take one in 2 years! Very excited. They also took me off of my army profile. :DDD That's big news there.
Lots of good things happening. :)) I can't believe how far I've come. I can't believe that I've had this experience! Whose got 2 thumbs and is feeling very fortunate. This ginger over here. :))
More to come...
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