It has been a couple of weeks now since I took my first liver capsule. (most people I've talked to have said "why don't you just eat liver?" I wish I could . . . . maybe one day I can get over my aversion to it!) I can't say as I've noticed any huge differences - except maybe in my energy level. Not that I've been bouncing off the walls! But I haven't felt the need for a nap in a while - which I actually find quite amazing considering that I've been working outside in my garden in the hot sun nearly every day, for many hours. I often get quite tired, and there have been days that I feel completely wore out by days end - but overall I feel my energy level is higher (not high - just higher :). On top of the liver capsules I've also been adding some raw egg yokes to my diet.
Raw egg yolks??
Yes! :)
Since my eggs are fresh and come from a source that I trust (I would be very afraid of consuming raw egg yolks from off the grocery store shelves!) I have no problems consuming them raw.
Here is an excerpt I found from this article:
Many people’s diets are deficient in high quality proteins and fats, and
eggs are one the very best sources of these. Raw eggs have many
benefits, they contain essential nutrients for the brain, nerves, glands
and hormones, they are nutritionally balanced, and we highly recommend
the addition of raw eggs to your nutritional programme. The sulphur
amino acids help to keep you young, raw eggs also contain an abundance
of other vital substances including protein, essential fatty acids along
with niacin, riboflavin, biotin, choline, vitamins A, D and E,
magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, zinc
and sulphur. Egg yolks are one of the few foods that contain vitamin D.
I've read about raw egg yolks in a couple of different books I've read - of course I can't remember exactly which ones right now . . .
My favourite way to eat them is in a cold coffee drink and in homemade ice cream. The cold coffee drink is a bit of coffee, honey and then lots of cream, milk and one egg yolk. I often add cocoa powder. It also tastes amazing with some mint in it. The cold coffee drink is really like ice cream except it's not frozen :)
Showing posts with label Healthier Eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthier Eating. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Vitamin B12 Deficiency - Dehydrated Liver Capsules
Several weeks ago I was told that I am low in vitamin B12. Not terribly low, but lower than I should be. I guess even a minor deficiency can cause problems. So like any good woman who is quite against taking synthetic drugs I began to look for a more natural approach to restoring my B12.
First of all - where do you get B12?
So what could I do with my diet to increase my B12? The options for seafood are enough to make me sick. I absolutely gag over liver. I already eat beef and cheese. I eat my eggs over easy with the yoke still mostly raw. Pregnant women are advised against eating raw eggs, but I do anyway as my eggs come from a very good source that I feel safe about.
So where did that leave me?
Back to pills.
I turned to the company that I have consumed in the past. Garden of Life. They have a raw B12 vitamin that looked good. Until I read a little more and saw that it was "vegan". B12 only comes from animals - so how can they make it "vegan"? Every pill I looked at I doubted and questioned. Why am I so against taking pills? Mostly because they come from unnatural sources that can cause harm to the body instead of healing. I like to take my vitamins as a whole food. I look for pills that come in gel capsules that actually come from food. It's very similar to how the garden works. You can put synthetic fertilizers on the garden and it will seem to do very well. You'll see great improvements over a very short time. But those fertilizers do damage in the long run and end up causing problems in the soil. You're much better off to add compost, manure, leaves, grass - natural things. It will take a little longer, but you'll build up the soil and be rewarded for decades to come. Over time your soil will be rich and full of life. I feel that it is the same with humans.
So what was I going to do?
I must admit that I immediately had a plan. But I was fighting against it. You see I have perfectly good liver from a grass raised cow sitting in my freezer. There's nothing wrong with it but for the fact that when I tried to eat it I was very nearly vomiting. No matter how much "mind over matter" I just couldn't seem to get it down. But I recalled reading a blog post about dehydrating liver and grinding it to a powder and then stuffing it in gel capsules. I could do that!
I wish I could say that it was easy and I did it right away. But it was a work in progress and I had to overcome my aversion to it. First I had to thaw the liver. Cut it up. Place it in my dehydrator. Check on it from time to time (thus smelling it again!). Once it was done I put it in a bowl and covered it and left it for about 2 weeks. I did it right before our vacation - but there was still a lot of procrastinating going on.
In the meantime I continued to check out pills, hoping that I might find one that I could take with a clear conscience. I almost bought one. But I'm frugal and it was expensive and I had perfectly good, cheap liver just waiting to be ground up and swallowed.
So yesterday I did it. I finally was able to do it. The smell was awful. It took about 10 minutes to grind it in my food processor. And then I took some alfafa capsules, emptied them (saved the powder for TR) and filled them with liver. Then I carefully wiped them with a dry cloth so I wouldn't taste any powder. I added a few other pills (raspberry leaf and nettle and alfalfa) to my hand and swallowed, followed by a large glass of juice. And you know what? I didn't taste liver. I didn't even burp up liver. Thank goodness!
I'm not sure how often I should take them. I've read that you should eat liver twice a week. So I think maybe I'll take the pills every day for a week to catch my body up and then just take it every 3 days or so.
Maybe I'm a little crazy - after all it would have been so much simpler to just go and buy a bottle of B12 from the drug store. But how could I when I had a perfectly good liver in my freezer . . .
First of all - where do you get B12?
- Clams, oysters, mussels
- Liver
- Fish eggs
- Octopus
- Fish
- Crab and lobster
- Beef
- Lamb
- Cheese
- Eggs (raw yellow)
So what could I do with my diet to increase my B12? The options for seafood are enough to make me sick. I absolutely gag over liver. I already eat beef and cheese. I eat my eggs over easy with the yoke still mostly raw. Pregnant women are advised against eating raw eggs, but I do anyway as my eggs come from a very good source that I feel safe about.
So where did that leave me?
Back to pills.
I turned to the company that I have consumed in the past. Garden of Life. They have a raw B12 vitamin that looked good. Until I read a little more and saw that it was "vegan". B12 only comes from animals - so how can they make it "vegan"? Every pill I looked at I doubted and questioned. Why am I so against taking pills? Mostly because they come from unnatural sources that can cause harm to the body instead of healing. I like to take my vitamins as a whole food. I look for pills that come in gel capsules that actually come from food. It's very similar to how the garden works. You can put synthetic fertilizers on the garden and it will seem to do very well. You'll see great improvements over a very short time. But those fertilizers do damage in the long run and end up causing problems in the soil. You're much better off to add compost, manure, leaves, grass - natural things. It will take a little longer, but you'll build up the soil and be rewarded for decades to come. Over time your soil will be rich and full of life. I feel that it is the same with humans.
So what was I going to do?
I must admit that I immediately had a plan. But I was fighting against it. You see I have perfectly good liver from a grass raised cow sitting in my freezer. There's nothing wrong with it but for the fact that when I tried to eat it I was very nearly vomiting. No matter how much "mind over matter" I just couldn't seem to get it down. But I recalled reading a blog post about dehydrating liver and grinding it to a powder and then stuffing it in gel capsules. I could do that!
In the meantime I continued to check out pills, hoping that I might find one that I could take with a clear conscience. I almost bought one. But I'm frugal and it was expensive and I had perfectly good, cheap liver just waiting to be ground up and swallowed.
So yesterday I did it. I finally was able to do it. The smell was awful. It took about 10 minutes to grind it in my food processor. And then I took some alfafa capsules, emptied them (saved the powder for TR) and filled them with liver. Then I carefully wiped them with a dry cloth so I wouldn't taste any powder. I added a few other pills (raspberry leaf and nettle and alfalfa) to my hand and swallowed, followed by a large glass of juice. And you know what? I didn't taste liver. I didn't even burp up liver. Thank goodness!
I'm not sure how often I should take them. I've read that you should eat liver twice a week. So I think maybe I'll take the pills every day for a week to catch my body up and then just take it every 3 days or so.
Maybe I'm a little crazy - after all it would have been so much simpler to just go and buy a bottle of B12 from the drug store. But how could I when I had a perfectly good liver in my freezer . . .
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Busy Busy
I have so much on my to do list it isn't even funny! We're listing our house this week (with hopes of buying an acreage nearby) and I'm trying to get our house a little more "show" ready. Not an easy task! So perhaps when things are a little more caught up in the getting-house-ready-on-top-of-all-my-other-tasks department my brain will be able to focus on another blog post!
In the meantime I just want to be clear about something.
I'm not against doctors. I understand that there is a great need for them and their knowledge. I understand that they may help in saving my life, or the life of someone I love, one day. I understand that vaccinations may have their place. I understand (as best I can as someone who has never experienced it) that epidemics are scary and not worth repeating, that anything we can do to help prevent them is worth pursuing.
But there is more than one side to every story and vaccinations and the prescription drugs don't come without a price. Doctors are not all knowing and they make mistakes. The medical system as a whole is very short sighted when it comes to living healthy (they may tell you to stop smoking but they'll feed you a ton of dangerously unhealthy food in the hospital). I have been in a place where I was told TR would always be on prescription drugs and even those would likely not be enough to help him fully. I have been in a place where all my trust in their words was broken when changing our diet made it possible for TR to be off all prescription drugs and in a ton less pain than before (I wouldn't say his colitis is healed, but he doesn't experience the pain from flare ups like before).
I say all that to say this. I am very strongly opinionated when it comes to doctors and the health care system. I have begun to question everything that they say. I think that with that comes the likelihood that I may offend somebody. I hope that if that is the case you will forgive me.
In the meantime I just want to be clear about something.
I'm not against doctors. I understand that there is a great need for them and their knowledge. I understand that they may help in saving my life, or the life of someone I love, one day. I understand that vaccinations may have their place. I understand (as best I can as someone who has never experienced it) that epidemics are scary and not worth repeating, that anything we can do to help prevent them is worth pursuing.
But there is more than one side to every story and vaccinations and the prescription drugs don't come without a price. Doctors are not all knowing and they make mistakes. The medical system as a whole is very short sighted when it comes to living healthy (they may tell you to stop smoking but they'll feed you a ton of dangerously unhealthy food in the hospital). I have been in a place where I was told TR would always be on prescription drugs and even those would likely not be enough to help him fully. I have been in a place where all my trust in their words was broken when changing our diet made it possible for TR to be off all prescription drugs and in a ton less pain than before (I wouldn't say his colitis is healed, but he doesn't experience the pain from flare ups like before).
I say all that to say this. I am very strongly opinionated when it comes to doctors and the health care system. I have begun to question everything that they say. I think that with that comes the likelihood that I may offend somebody. I hope that if that is the case you will forgive me.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Tomato Soup
I have been very uninterested in cooking lately. But as my family still has to eat, I still have to cook! The trouble is I want food, I want good food, but I want something different. It's times like these I'm especially thankful for the variety of foods available to me! I've read so many pioneer stories where the menu stayed the same all through the winter. The only variation would come when they ran out of something. So when I find myself craving a different flavour or texture, I'm thankful for all the options.
Last night I just wanted something but I didn't know what. I knew all the things I didn't want though! No chicken, no beef. Which leaves . . . pretty much nothing in my house. Then out of the blue I remembered something I haven't eaten in a very long time. Tomato soup. Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches! I remembered that I even had a can of store bought tomato soup. I was going to take the easy way out and just make that - how much easier does it get? But, luckily for me, the canned soup has wheat in it.
Since the canned soup was out that left making it from scratch myself. This is how I made it:
- organic crushed tomatoes (from a can)
- chicken broth (homemade)
- dash of thyme
- chopped onion
- tomato powder (I ground up some dried tomatoes in my coffee grinder) - this helps it to thicken
Boil on the stove for a while. I didn't boil it very long, maybe only 25 minutes. If I had allowed myself more time I would have started much earlier and let if simmer for longer. I strained the onions off, but you could blend them in or leave them if you like chunks. Add a generous amount of cream. I also added some feta cheese to mine - soooo good! Enjoy with grilled cheese sandwich :)
I was amazed at how good it tasted! Absolutely full of flavour!!!! I'm very thankful that the store bought tomato soup has wheat in it! The soup I made was full of good ingredients I could feel good about (and good after eating too!). It had some homemade chicken broth which is also so very healthy. And while it wasn't 100 % tomatoes from my garden, they were organic tomatoes and the powdered tomatoes were from my garden. And that feels good to me :)
Last night I just wanted something but I didn't know what. I knew all the things I didn't want though! No chicken, no beef. Which leaves . . . pretty much nothing in my house. Then out of the blue I remembered something I haven't eaten in a very long time. Tomato soup. Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches! I remembered that I even had a can of store bought tomato soup. I was going to take the easy way out and just make that - how much easier does it get? But, luckily for me, the canned soup has wheat in it.
Since the canned soup was out that left making it from scratch myself. This is how I made it:
- organic crushed tomatoes (from a can)
- chicken broth (homemade)
- dash of thyme
- chopped onion
- tomato powder (I ground up some dried tomatoes in my coffee grinder) - this helps it to thicken
Boil on the stove for a while. I didn't boil it very long, maybe only 25 minutes. If I had allowed myself more time I would have started much earlier and let if simmer for longer. I strained the onions off, but you could blend them in or leave them if you like chunks. Add a generous amount of cream. I also added some feta cheese to mine - soooo good! Enjoy with grilled cheese sandwich :)
I was amazed at how good it tasted! Absolutely full of flavour!!!! I'm very thankful that the store bought tomato soup has wheat in it! The soup I made was full of good ingredients I could feel good about (and good after eating too!). It had some homemade chicken broth which is also so very healthy. And while it wasn't 100 % tomatoes from my garden, they were organic tomatoes and the powdered tomatoes were from my garden. And that feels good to me :)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Grocery Trip of Surprises!
It's not often I finish a grocery shopping trip with a bounce in my step. It is often very discouraging to see the limited amounts of foods that actually are foods that I want my family and I to eat. And of the foods there is a list of reasons why I should just leave them there, but alas, since I am yet unable to supply all of our food locally this is the next best option.
But today was different! I was surprised to see an organic choice for several foods that I don't normally see.
On top of that I found a good deal on havarti cheese that does not have calcium chloride in it! It's amazing what you can find if you're willing to look between the cracks in the floor and up on the ceiling tiles!
Besides the food I also enjoyed the fact that my children were all well behaved despite the fact that we were there right before lunch. No one needed to use the restroom. No tantrums or fighting. Just easy shopping.
To top it all off, my bill was lower than I had estimated! Not bad considering all the extra organic food that I threw in!
When I came home we had a wonderfully simple lunch - the kids just had a mix of oranges, cheese and cucumber, yogurt. They loved it and thought it was a great lunch. Me on the other hand, I had a really great lunch!
Lettuce, havarti cheese, feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, orange pieces, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, homemade mayonnaise, dill olive oil (that I infused myself :), dash of salt, fried chicken. (the green ones are organic :)
So good!
But today was different! I was surprised to see an organic choice for several foods that I don't normally see.
- tomatoes
- mushrooms
- sweet potatoess
- oranges
On top of that I found a good deal on havarti cheese that does not have calcium chloride in it! It's amazing what you can find if you're willing to look between the cracks in the floor and up on the ceiling tiles!
Besides the food I also enjoyed the fact that my children were all well behaved despite the fact that we were there right before lunch. No one needed to use the restroom. No tantrums or fighting. Just easy shopping.
To top it all off, my bill was lower than I had estimated! Not bad considering all the extra organic food that I threw in!
When I came home we had a wonderfully simple lunch - the kids just had a mix of oranges, cheese and cucumber, yogurt. They loved it and thought it was a great lunch. Me on the other hand, I had a really great lunch!
Grocery Day Salad
Lettuce, havarti cheese, feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, orange pieces, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, homemade mayonnaise, dill olive oil (that I infused myself :), dash of salt, fried chicken. (the green ones are organic :)
So good!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Easy Chocolate Milk
I've heard it said that drinking chocolate milk is just as healthy as drinking regular milk and that if you can at least get your kids to drink chocolate then that is fine as long as they are drinking milk. Now that I know so much about conventional milk and what all happens to I am quite certain that you would be healthier without the milk let alone the chocolate milk! But that is perhaps another story for another time. If you are at all interested in learning more about milk a really great book on it is The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid. I may tackle my opinion on consuming grocery store dairy at some point, but not today :)
Today I have a wonderful recipe that I thought I would share with you that I absolutely love and it is super simple.
Only heat the milk long enough to melt the honey and whisk it together to be smooth. Take it off the heat and put it in a jar in the fridge.
When you want a glass of chocolate milk just pour yourself a glass of milk with a liberal splash of cream and then some of the syrup. So good! And the best part is that I can feel good about what my children and I are drinking :)
*I often link books to amazon, but I always get my books from our local library here.*
Today I have a wonderful recipe that I thought I would share with you that I absolutely love and it is super simple.
Chocolate Syrup
Put some milk into a small pot and heat it gently on medium.
Add cocoa powder (lots and lots - I really can't tell you the amount but you want it to be concentrated)
Add some honey
I never measure and I've never been disappointed. I usually put in about 1/2-3/4 cup of milk. 4-6 large tbsp of cocoa, and about 1/4 cup of honey or so. This also works great for making hot chocolate, except then I make it to taste and not concentrated and heat it until hot.
When you want a glass of chocolate milk just pour yourself a glass of milk with a liberal splash of cream and then some of the syrup. So good! And the best part is that I can feel good about what my children and I are drinking :)
*I often link books to amazon, but I always get my books from our local library here.*
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
One More Package Bites the Dust!
I am very happy to say that I no longer need to buy mayonnaise! Hurray!!
Mayo is something that TR eats on his sandwich nearly everyday he is working. He eats it with chicken that I've canned myself, but the mayo is still store bought. It is still full of "spices" and preservatives. It has been pasteurized and in my unprofessional opinion does not benefit the body at all, but rather harm it. I've been dreaming for a while of making him some from scratch and even did a few times this past summer. It tasted awesome, but it was an effort to make it and having it fail one time did not encourage the effort (not that it was terribly difficult, but I found the most success with mixing it by hand with a whisk which does take a bit of time - especially if you need it in a hurry because you forget to make it the night before!). TR also didn't like the strong taste of extra virgin olive oil. I went and bought the less healthy version of the olive oil to try but never did get around to trying it.
I read this blog a few weeks ago that gave me the push I needed to try again. She describes a method I've never heard of before. I've always read that you have to mix the oil in verrrrrry slowly and if you go too fast you'll wreck it. I was a little hesitant to try it, but what did I really have to lose? She says to use a hand held blender stick and simply mix all the ingredients together and blend. It takes merely a few seconds and it is done! And it tastes amazing. I've made it several times now and I've never messed it up - it's been perfect everytime!
My recipe:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 farm fresh egg yoke
about 1/8 tsp. -1/4 tsp. sea salt
spoonful of mustard
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I usually don't like the taste of this, but honestly it tastes great in here)
little splosh of lemon juice (maybe about 1 tsp. or less)
sprinkle of garlic powder
Mix altogether in a bowl and blend with stick blender for a few seconds until it is all emulsified. Stir in the little bit of oil that stays on top and refrigerate. (she recommends eating it in 5 days)
TR has taken it to work and he likes it! I am so thankful that it is so simple to make and now I have more control over the ingredients and freshness. Instead of being harmful and void of nutrients it is full of wonderful fats that our body needs and raw egg yoke which is so healthful to the body.
*a lot of people are afraid of raw eggs - I suggest that you buy your eggs locally from a farm you trust. Raw eggs (specifically the yoke) have so many health benefits and if you have a good source for them, there is no need to be afraid of eating them :)
Mayo is something that TR eats on his sandwich nearly everyday he is working. He eats it with chicken that I've canned myself, but the mayo is still store bought. It is still full of "spices" and preservatives. It has been pasteurized and in my unprofessional opinion does not benefit the body at all, but rather harm it. I've been dreaming for a while of making him some from scratch and even did a few times this past summer. It tasted awesome, but it was an effort to make it and having it fail one time did not encourage the effort (not that it was terribly difficult, but I found the most success with mixing it by hand with a whisk which does take a bit of time - especially if you need it in a hurry because you forget to make it the night before!). TR also didn't like the strong taste of extra virgin olive oil. I went and bought the less healthy version of the olive oil to try but never did get around to trying it.
I read this blog a few weeks ago that gave me the push I needed to try again. She describes a method I've never heard of before. I've always read that you have to mix the oil in verrrrrry slowly and if you go too fast you'll wreck it. I was a little hesitant to try it, but what did I really have to lose? She says to use a hand held blender stick and simply mix all the ingredients together and blend. It takes merely a few seconds and it is done! And it tastes amazing. I've made it several times now and I've never messed it up - it's been perfect everytime!
My recipe:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 farm fresh egg yoke
about 1/8 tsp. -1/4 tsp. sea salt
spoonful of mustard
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (I usually don't like the taste of this, but honestly it tastes great in here)
little splosh of lemon juice (maybe about 1 tsp. or less)
sprinkle of garlic powder
Mix altogether in a bowl and blend with stick blender for a few seconds until it is all emulsified. Stir in the little bit of oil that stays on top and refrigerate. (she recommends eating it in 5 days)
TR has taken it to work and he likes it! I am so thankful that it is so simple to make and now I have more control over the ingredients and freshness. Instead of being harmful and void of nutrients it is full of wonderful fats that our body needs and raw egg yoke which is so healthful to the body.
*a lot of people are afraid of raw eggs - I suggest that you buy your eggs locally from a farm you trust. Raw eggs (specifically the yoke) have so many health benefits and if you have a good source for them, there is no need to be afraid of eating them :)
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
What Helped?
If I have to think about TR's journey with colitis I would have a very hard time pinpointing exactly what it was that helped him the most.
When he started taking steroids in the summer of '10 the specialist he saw was convinced that the steroids alone would not be able to put him into 'remission'. Rather the hope of the steroids was that it would help to reduce the inflammation and enable a less strong drug (but with less side effects of steroids which can only be used short term or you get seriously addicted to them!) to be able to control this disease. She told us that food would not make a difference and that his colitis was in very very bad shape. In fact she gave us very little hope at all. He would be on drugs the rest of his life. If we were lucky the steroids would help pave the way for another drug.
In the beginning of the steroids it was great. He felt better than he had in a very long time. But it didn't take very long and his pain was back. I think it was about halfway through the treatment (I think it was about 8 weeks altogether). That's when the new diet began and while it has not been smooth sailing all the way through I would say it worked!
In the beginning of our new diet (you can read about the foods we didn't eat here) we were very careful. No pop. As little sugar as we could handle - I don't think I even made homemade sweets for a very long time. If I made a dessert or snack I used honey. We switched to natural foods like butter and pure maple syrup. I made homemade ice cream for a treat sweetened with honey. We used honey to sweeten our tea and coffee. I bought natural cane sugar and experimented with different kinds. We used very little of this sugar but if I did use sugar for something this is what we used. We tried very hard to limit canned goods (I think we only used canned tomatoes or homemade canned goods). We avoided most vegetables from the store (for pesticide exposure) and tried to use as much from the garden as possible. I could go on but I will some it up with this: we ate whole foods, greatly limited any processed food, made it ourselves. We bought meat from local farmers.
If we went visiting TR would notice almost right away. He tried to eat the best food that was available and sometimes I brought our own food - but he would still often leave in pain. Or be in pain the next day. So we didn't eat away from home very much. TR's job wasn't very stable back then and he started looking for a different job. I remember thinking as we approached every ad with the thinking of what he would eat. All jobs that would take him out of town were not possible. We didn't stay for potlucks at the Church. Picnics were very hard to do spontaneously as I had to prepare all the food we were bringing. No more hotdogs and smores for us. No more quickly stopping in at the grocery store on our way out.
But we were thankful and we're still thankful. He could have been on drugs. He could have been suffering severely. But he wasn't. And he was getting stronger.
On top of the food changes he also added vitamins and supplements. The main ones that he always had were alfafa, vitamin D. He has experimented with a multivitamin but the taste of it was so awful that he just couldn't swallow it. Here is a post I wrote on how he takes pills. For a while he would notice it immediately if he didn't take his pills. After a while the reaction slowed down so that if he forgot for a few days he wouldn't feel it for a week or so and then it would hit him.
What about now? Now we eat out. (by out I mean out of our house :) We go visiting and he can eat their food without too much problems. The other week we actually bought (natural) hotdogs for an impromptu picnic! He hasn't taken his alfafa in weeks and he hasn't noticed.
He still struggles. Fatigue is his biggest enemy right now. But how he is now is so different than how it was a couple of years ago. He is stronger. His body doesn't fight against him as hard as it used to. We're still looking for some more answers and ways we can improve the health of all of us. But it isn't as all consuming as it was back then. And we are thankful.
When he started taking steroids in the summer of '10 the specialist he saw was convinced that the steroids alone would not be able to put him into 'remission'. Rather the hope of the steroids was that it would help to reduce the inflammation and enable a less strong drug (but with less side effects of steroids which can only be used short term or you get seriously addicted to them!) to be able to control this disease. She told us that food would not make a difference and that his colitis was in very very bad shape. In fact she gave us very little hope at all. He would be on drugs the rest of his life. If we were lucky the steroids would help pave the way for another drug.
In the beginning of the steroids it was great. He felt better than he had in a very long time. But it didn't take very long and his pain was back. I think it was about halfway through the treatment (I think it was about 8 weeks altogether). That's when the new diet began and while it has not been smooth sailing all the way through I would say it worked!
In the beginning of our new diet (you can read about the foods we didn't eat here) we were very careful. No pop. As little sugar as we could handle - I don't think I even made homemade sweets for a very long time. If I made a dessert or snack I used honey. We switched to natural foods like butter and pure maple syrup. I made homemade ice cream for a treat sweetened with honey. We used honey to sweeten our tea and coffee. I bought natural cane sugar and experimented with different kinds. We used very little of this sugar but if I did use sugar for something this is what we used. We tried very hard to limit canned goods (I think we only used canned tomatoes or homemade canned goods). We avoided most vegetables from the store (for pesticide exposure) and tried to use as much from the garden as possible. I could go on but I will some it up with this: we ate whole foods, greatly limited any processed food, made it ourselves. We bought meat from local farmers.
If we went visiting TR would notice almost right away. He tried to eat the best food that was available and sometimes I brought our own food - but he would still often leave in pain. Or be in pain the next day. So we didn't eat away from home very much. TR's job wasn't very stable back then and he started looking for a different job. I remember thinking as we approached every ad with the thinking of what he would eat. All jobs that would take him out of town were not possible. We didn't stay for potlucks at the Church. Picnics were very hard to do spontaneously as I had to prepare all the food we were bringing. No more hotdogs and smores for us. No more quickly stopping in at the grocery store on our way out.
But we were thankful and we're still thankful. He could have been on drugs. He could have been suffering severely. But he wasn't. And he was getting stronger.
On top of the food changes he also added vitamins and supplements. The main ones that he always had were alfafa, vitamin D. He has experimented with a multivitamin but the taste of it was so awful that he just couldn't swallow it. Here is a post I wrote on how he takes pills. For a while he would notice it immediately if he didn't take his pills. After a while the reaction slowed down so that if he forgot for a few days he wouldn't feel it for a week or so and then it would hit him.
What about now? Now we eat out. (by out I mean out of our house :) We go visiting and he can eat their food without too much problems. The other week we actually bought (natural) hotdogs for an impromptu picnic! He hasn't taken his alfafa in weeks and he hasn't noticed.
He still struggles. Fatigue is his biggest enemy right now. But how he is now is so different than how it was a couple of years ago. He is stronger. His body doesn't fight against him as hard as it used to. We're still looking for some more answers and ways we can improve the health of all of us. But it isn't as all consuming as it was back then. And we are thankful.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
This Culture We Live In
I wish many times that my children did not have to grow up in this culture. There are many reasons for this but for the purpose of this post I will just give one reason today.
The Food.
Or rather, the imposter's sitting on the grocery shelf that look like food but really . . . they're not.
I was reading about margarine this morning. And let me tell you how thankful I was that it was butter on my toast! But I grew up on margarine. Butter was for special occasions like Sunday Faspa or to use in Christmas baking. For one it is expensive and my parents didn't have a lot of money. But it's also very normal. Almost all my friends grew up on margarine. When we got married I bought margarine. Now I buy butter, but when we first switched over it was incredibly hard to buy butter. It is expensive. It hurts the wallet. Does it really make a difference?
But I bought it and now it's normal and the thought of margarine is repulsive. But in the beginning I really had to fight against the culture's ingraining to my thinking.
And I find it that way with every switch I make. And when I go visiting people have foods that I remember eating and enjoying. Foods that make me question, 'maybe I can eat it just this once?' And sometimes I do. I don't like being rude about things, but I'll often try to eat the healthier stuff that's there but sometimes it is just plain hard to refuse it because I used to love it.
Other times it is actually quite easy to not eat something I used to love. Certain patterns have been changed in my mind now and I find it easy to say no. I used to love new years cookies. LOVE. After we changed our diet I could hardly imagine the new year without them. So my Mom made me some and I ate them and I loved them. This last year my sister made some and brought them over and the smell of them was repulsive and I couldn't imagine eating it. What changed? I changed. I used to love Pepsi. Drank it every day or almost every day. After I stopped drinking pop I craved it. When TR would open one I would want one too. Now most pop is disgusting to me and I don't want it. I have one sip and I'm done. Occasionally I can drink a ginger ale but mostly I don't even want fizz anymore.
Okay so what am I trying to say? I guess it boils down to this. If you are struggling with your diet and wishing that you ate healthier. If you read my posts about our diet and feel bad that you still have so much in yours that I've taken out - I really want to encourage you to relax. Take it one step at a time. Make changes. Sometimes even make hard changes. But don't beat yourself up about it. I understand how hard it is to change when all your life you've eaten this way. It's hard. It hurts the wallet. Sometimes you crave the things you don't want to eat anymore. That's okay. I'm here to say it gets easier. And it takes time. We've been making changes for over 2 years and there's still things in our diet that I'd like to see replaced. I find it's been a work in progress for me. Some people are able to make complete changes right away. But for us it's been progress. So relax. And then make a change. Just one change. You can do it!!! See how it feels. And who knows? Before you know it it might become easier. And you might be feeling better. And you might not mind that it costs more. (I'll try to do a post on the cost it's been for us soon :) But please don't feel that we're perfect or that we have this healthy eating thing down pat. We don't. We're still learning and changing.
For my kids I hope that they will grow up to love healthy food. That they will have good memories of eating healthy food. That they won't grow up craving bad foods for special occasions. I hope that they will grow up to like fermented foods and that the taste won't be disgusting and hard to swallow like it is for me. That it will be normal and good to do fasts and cleanses and that they will read labels and be aware of the way food is processed. Mostly I hope that they will be healthy and strong despite this country and culture we call home.
The Food.
Or rather, the imposter's sitting on the grocery shelf that look like food but really . . . they're not.
I was reading about margarine this morning. And let me tell you how thankful I was that it was butter on my toast! But I grew up on margarine. Butter was for special occasions like Sunday Faspa or to use in Christmas baking. For one it is expensive and my parents didn't have a lot of money. But it's also very normal. Almost all my friends grew up on margarine. When we got married I bought margarine. Now I buy butter, but when we first switched over it was incredibly hard to buy butter. It is expensive. It hurts the wallet. Does it really make a difference?
But I bought it and now it's normal and the thought of margarine is repulsive. But in the beginning I really had to fight against the culture's ingraining to my thinking.
And I find it that way with every switch I make. And when I go visiting people have foods that I remember eating and enjoying. Foods that make me question, 'maybe I can eat it just this once?' And sometimes I do. I don't like being rude about things, but I'll often try to eat the healthier stuff that's there but sometimes it is just plain hard to refuse it because I used to love it.
Other times it is actually quite easy to not eat something I used to love. Certain patterns have been changed in my mind now and I find it easy to say no. I used to love new years cookies. LOVE. After we changed our diet I could hardly imagine the new year without them. So my Mom made me some and I ate them and I loved them. This last year my sister made some and brought them over and the smell of them was repulsive and I couldn't imagine eating it. What changed? I changed. I used to love Pepsi. Drank it every day or almost every day. After I stopped drinking pop I craved it. When TR would open one I would want one too. Now most pop is disgusting to me and I don't want it. I have one sip and I'm done. Occasionally I can drink a ginger ale but mostly I don't even want fizz anymore.
Okay so what am I trying to say? I guess it boils down to this. If you are struggling with your diet and wishing that you ate healthier. If you read my posts about our diet and feel bad that you still have so much in yours that I've taken out - I really want to encourage you to relax. Take it one step at a time. Make changes. Sometimes even make hard changes. But don't beat yourself up about it. I understand how hard it is to change when all your life you've eaten this way. It's hard. It hurts the wallet. Sometimes you crave the things you don't want to eat anymore. That's okay. I'm here to say it gets easier. And it takes time. We've been making changes for over 2 years and there's still things in our diet that I'd like to see replaced. I find it's been a work in progress for me. Some people are able to make complete changes right away. But for us it's been progress. So relax. And then make a change. Just one change. You can do it!!! See how it feels. And who knows? Before you know it it might become easier. And you might be feeling better. And you might not mind that it costs more. (I'll try to do a post on the cost it's been for us soon :) But please don't feel that we're perfect or that we have this healthy eating thing down pat. We don't. We're still learning and changing.
For my kids I hope that they will grow up to love healthy food. That they will have good memories of eating healthy food. That they won't grow up craving bad foods for special occasions. I hope that they will grow up to like fermented foods and that the taste won't be disgusting and hard to swallow like it is for me. That it will be normal and good to do fasts and cleanses and that they will read labels and be aware of the way food is processed. Mostly I hope that they will be healthy and strong despite this country and culture we call home.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Results and Raspberries
While we have been waiting for a local naturalpath doctor to come home from vacation TR went in and got some blood work done. He had quite a few tests done on his blood and last week (or was it 2 weeks ago? . . . ) he went in for the results. And they all came back normal. The only thing that showed up was a slight dairy allergy - which we weren't surprised about at all. He didn't show any signs of being allergic to wheat. So now we just keep waiting and see if the naturapath can find anything, although I am a little suspicious that his problem might be in the gluten free flour mix I was using . . . I hope not! But it is quite possible. Until then I haven't been using the gluten free flours for anything that TR will be eating unless I know he's had it before without a reaction. For example: he reacted to the cookies so no cookies, but the gluten free brownies were fine, so I've still made those.
We picked raspberries again yesterday and it might be the last time. I have to say it would be nice to have a break from picking but it has been such a huge blessing! We have so much in the freezer, I've dehydrated some, I've made some fruit leather, I've canned some juice, I've fermented some (more about the fermenting in another post :) I am so thankful that my Mom has so many bushes and so little use for them herself :) And I am also very thankful that my kids have been doing so well when I go out there. My Mom has often been working when we've been there and the kids have just entertained themselves. Fresh berries, grown local and organic - for free! We absolutely love raspberries and now we can enjoy them all winter long too.
Today I am really hoping to make sauerkraut! I bought 2 big cabbages from the farmers market and I think today is the day :) My Mom gave me a stone crock used for fermenting vegetables that was my Grandma's and I am so excited to use it! I don't like sauerkraut to be quite honest. But that's besides the point! It is healthy and if I make myself eat it maybe I will grow to like it? I didn't grow up eating sour or fermented foods and I really have to say that I can hardly even swallow yogurt. BUT maybe I can learn to like it. I hope!!
We picked raspberries again yesterday and it might be the last time. I have to say it would be nice to have a break from picking but it has been such a huge blessing! We have so much in the freezer, I've dehydrated some, I've made some fruit leather, I've canned some juice, I've fermented some (more about the fermenting in another post :) I am so thankful that my Mom has so many bushes and so little use for them herself :) And I am also very thankful that my kids have been doing so well when I go out there. My Mom has often been working when we've been there and the kids have just entertained themselves. Fresh berries, grown local and organic - for free! We absolutely love raspberries and now we can enjoy them all winter long too.
Today I am really hoping to make sauerkraut! I bought 2 big cabbages from the farmers market and I think today is the day :) My Mom gave me a stone crock used for fermenting vegetables that was my Grandma's and I am so excited to use it! I don't like sauerkraut to be quite honest. But that's besides the point! It is healthy and if I make myself eat it maybe I will grow to like it? I didn't grow up eating sour or fermented foods and I really have to say that I can hardly even swallow yogurt. BUT maybe I can learn to like it. I hope!!
Friday, August 17, 2012
You are what you eat (& digest!)
Why did changing our diet 2 years ago make such a big difference?
A few years ago I honestly didn't give too much thought to what we were eating. A very good friend of mine who loves me very much loves to tease me about my misconceptions about food and how crazy she thought I was consuming so much sugar after my first 2 babies were born :) But God is so good and He has slowly been teaching me and helping me overcome my misconceptions.
I used to think that disease and what we eat were unrelated. Of course I realized that smoking or second hand smoke could cause cancer. That obesity could cause diabetes and heart problems. But what I didn't think was that what I was eating would hurt me.
Since that time I've learned that I was wrong. Very very wrong. I was astonished to go through my cupboards and read the labels. I was astonished to go grocery shopping and bypass all my old foods. That first shopping trip I left the kids behind and took my time. I read all the labels. Skip. Skip. Skip. Skip. most everything I used to buy went back on the shelf. But I was happy to find that there were some good alternatives and now I know exactly what to buy and it takes a "normal" amount of time. By normal I mean how long it takes any Mom! My kids are learning that not all food is equal. Chloe often says "we buy this because it's organic." Haha! But I also hear a lot of "can we buy ____?" and it's usually something that I don't want them to eat but marketers make look very attractive. And then I have to say "I'm sorry but that 's not healthy, they use a lot of chemicals to make that."
So why exactly is all this food bad for us? Why can't we just eat it in moderation?
The research out there is getting more and more extensive and I really don't want to go into it too much because then I would want to make sure that all my facts are straight and have a source to back it all up - but I will give you the basics of my understanding.
Life begins in the intestines. What we eat goes to our stomach. If we don't chew properly or use enough saliva when we're eating our stomachs have a harder time breaking it down. The more we enjoy our food the more easily our body digests it. (cool huh?!) Eating fast is harder on our system, eating slowly is easier. The real work begins in the intestines and if our intestines are not working properly our whole body suffers. A lot of people with an inflammatory bowel disease are nutrient deficient because their body can't absorb what they're eating. You can eat all the right foods but if your body can't absorb them, all those nutrients just end up in the toilet. Another thing that needs to happen is the elimination of wastes. Our liver is very important for getting rid of toxins - and so is our . . . you know . . . bowel movements. Overloading our bodies with toxins and harmful substances makes it harder for our body to eliminate them and they end up building up in our system. Most foods in our culture are hard on our bodies for various reasons which is perhaps another post.
Chewing is just one way that we break our food down. There is a host of helpers within our body and without them our body just can't function properly. Most disease comes when we're mistreating our body and feeding it junk. Ever looked at the label of what you're eating? Ever looked those things up? It can be pretty scary. Artificial flavour. What exactly is that? It could be a multiple number of things but you can bet you can't grow it in your garden! Do you remember my post on the pineapple juice? Here is an excerpt:
The pineapple juice was the blue menu choice. 40% less sugar. Right there my flags went up. The pineapple juice we usually buy is 100% pineapple juice not from concentrate. How do they reduce the sugar from that? So I read the label. Pineapple juice (not from concentrate), water, fruit pectin (contains maltodextrin, corn syrup solids) citric acid, potassium citrate, natural flavour, malic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) turmeric (colour) sucralose (15mg per serving), caramel colouring.
Okay how natural is that? Does our body really need all these things? Do you know that MSG can be labeled as natural flavour ? I think we all know by now how harmful MSG is to our body. And that is just one ingredient on the list. What about the corn syrup solids? What does that do to our body? How does our body get rid of all these non-foods we're putting into it?
The truth is - it doesn't.
And it hurts. Our body suffers.
And we often think it's normal.
Do you get headaches? Do you have aches and pains? Do you have gas and bloating? Do you have trouble sleeping? Do you feel anxious? Depressed?
Could it be that what you're eating is hurting you?
Yes! It could be absolutely true! I am learning more and more how serious it is to feed our body properly and what exactly that looks like. I am guessing that I will probably be learning about this my whole life. When I'm 60 I'll probably look back and say "wow, I can't believe we used to eat that!" about what we're eating right now. But that's okay - it would be impossible for me to eat perfectly right now.
Sometimes I get very frustrated and overwhelmed. But I will leave you with that which is my constant reassurance.
This is not my home.
This is not my home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):)
Heaven is my home and when it is my turn, when my house is ready, my body will be perfect. I won't be looking at labels. I won't be questioning ingredients, how it was processed, what soil it was grown in, how long it was in transport, all the fuel emissions that were emitted as it was being transported and what that's doing to my breastmilk that I feed my baby (which is another post altogether!). And for that I praise God! This trial is temporary. I'm going to do all I can to learn about how to feed my family as healthily as I can. I'm going to do all I can to keep TR's colitis in check while we're here on this earth. But when it gets me down I am thankful that one day this struggle will be over and our bodies will be perfect. And the food we eat will be perfect. Thank you Jesus!
p.s. I realized that it's been a while since I've done a lot of research on the additives to food and so hopefully soon I'll be taking the time to research it again. Look for more posts coming up on that soon :)
A few years ago I honestly didn't give too much thought to what we were eating. A very good friend of mine who loves me very much loves to tease me about my misconceptions about food and how crazy she thought I was consuming so much sugar after my first 2 babies were born :) But God is so good and He has slowly been teaching me and helping me overcome my misconceptions.
I used to think that disease and what we eat were unrelated. Of course I realized that smoking or second hand smoke could cause cancer. That obesity could cause diabetes and heart problems. But what I didn't think was that what I was eating would hurt me.
Since that time I've learned that I was wrong. Very very wrong. I was astonished to go through my cupboards and read the labels. I was astonished to go grocery shopping and bypass all my old foods. That first shopping trip I left the kids behind and took my time. I read all the labels. Skip. Skip. Skip. Skip. most everything I used to buy went back on the shelf. But I was happy to find that there were some good alternatives and now I know exactly what to buy and it takes a "normal" amount of time. By normal I mean how long it takes any Mom! My kids are learning that not all food is equal. Chloe often says "we buy this because it's organic." Haha! But I also hear a lot of "can we buy ____?" and it's usually something that I don't want them to eat but marketers make look very attractive. And then I have to say "I'm sorry but that 's not healthy, they use a lot of chemicals to make that."
So why exactly is all this food bad for us? Why can't we just eat it in moderation?
The research out there is getting more and more extensive and I really don't want to go into it too much because then I would want to make sure that all my facts are straight and have a source to back it all up - but I will give you the basics of my understanding.
Life begins in the intestines. What we eat goes to our stomach. If we don't chew properly or use enough saliva when we're eating our stomachs have a harder time breaking it down. The more we enjoy our food the more easily our body digests it. (cool huh?!) Eating fast is harder on our system, eating slowly is easier. The real work begins in the intestines and if our intestines are not working properly our whole body suffers. A lot of people with an inflammatory bowel disease are nutrient deficient because their body can't absorb what they're eating. You can eat all the right foods but if your body can't absorb them, all those nutrients just end up in the toilet. Another thing that needs to happen is the elimination of wastes. Our liver is very important for getting rid of toxins - and so is our . . . you know . . . bowel movements. Overloading our bodies with toxins and harmful substances makes it harder for our body to eliminate them and they end up building up in our system. Most foods in our culture are hard on our bodies for various reasons which is perhaps another post.
Chewing is just one way that we break our food down. There is a host of helpers within our body and without them our body just can't function properly. Most disease comes when we're mistreating our body and feeding it junk. Ever looked at the label of what you're eating? Ever looked those things up? It can be pretty scary. Artificial flavour. What exactly is that? It could be a multiple number of things but you can bet you can't grow it in your garden! Do you remember my post on the pineapple juice? Here is an excerpt:
The pineapple juice was the blue menu choice. 40% less sugar. Right there my flags went up. The pineapple juice we usually buy is 100% pineapple juice not from concentrate. How do they reduce the sugar from that? So I read the label. Pineapple juice (not from concentrate), water, fruit pectin (contains maltodextrin, corn syrup solids) citric acid, potassium citrate, natural flavour, malic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) turmeric (colour) sucralose (15mg per serving), caramel colouring.
Okay how natural is that? Does our body really need all these things? Do you know that MSG can be labeled as natural flavour ? I think we all know by now how harmful MSG is to our body. And that is just one ingredient on the list. What about the corn syrup solids? What does that do to our body? How does our body get rid of all these non-foods we're putting into it?
The truth is - it doesn't.
And it hurts. Our body suffers.
And we often think it's normal.
Do you get headaches? Do you have aches and pains? Do you have gas and bloating? Do you have trouble sleeping? Do you feel anxious? Depressed?
Could it be that what you're eating is hurting you?
Yes! It could be absolutely true! I am learning more and more how serious it is to feed our body properly and what exactly that looks like. I am guessing that I will probably be learning about this my whole life. When I'm 60 I'll probably look back and say "wow, I can't believe we used to eat that!" about what we're eating right now. But that's okay - it would be impossible for me to eat perfectly right now.
Sometimes I get very frustrated and overwhelmed. But I will leave you with that which is my constant reassurance.
This is not my home.
This is not my home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):)
Heaven is my home and when it is my turn, when my house is ready, my body will be perfect. I won't be looking at labels. I won't be questioning ingredients, how it was processed, what soil it was grown in, how long it was in transport, all the fuel emissions that were emitted as it was being transported and what that's doing to my breastmilk that I feed my baby (which is another post altogether!). And for that I praise God! This trial is temporary. I'm going to do all I can to learn about how to feed my family as healthily as I can. I'm going to do all I can to keep TR's colitis in check while we're here on this earth. But when it gets me down I am thankful that one day this struggle will be over and our bodies will be perfect. And the food we eat will be perfect. Thank you Jesus!
p.s. I realized that it's been a while since I've done a lot of research on the additives to food and so hopefully soon I'll be taking the time to research it again. Look for more posts coming up on that soon :)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The Diagnosis
I realized recently that I've never actually posted the story of how colitis entered our lives! So here it is, nearly 3 years later :)
Our second child was born in March 2009. Right smack dab in the middle of "busy season" for TR. Usually the winter months are much busier for him and this year wasn't too bad but by March it had picked up for sure! I remember thinking that a planned induction would be nice just so I could guarantee that he would be there :)
What I didn't notice was that TR was not doing well. Not at all.
I was complaining of pregnancy problems not even realizing what was happening to him. And it still fills me with grief that I didn't really notice. All I saw was that my back hurt, my sciatic nerve was making my life miserable and the baby never let me sleep. I didn't notice that TR was losing weight, he was in pain and the bathroom was becoming all too familiar with him.
When Ben was born TR was there, thankfully, but not for long. We came home from the hospital less than 24 hours after he was born and TR stayed long enough to help me get him in the house and then he was gone again.
It was easy for me to think that all this working was the reason TR wasn't feeling well, the reason he was losing weight. But then summer came and things didn't change. I thought maybe he just wasn't eating well (if you know us you know the things he liked to take with him to work :) I tried to convince him to stop eating so many sweets and so much pop - but mostly I was just concerned about getting some more sleep and wishing he'd have more energy to help out with the kids. He would come home and crash. He was always tired. I wondered why he couldn't help out more.
Thankfully TR knew something wasn't right and went in to find out what was going on in his body. I think that maybe it was in June or so that he initially went it. I think it might have even been several appointments - my memory of this is a little fuzzy (I was getting up for 2 kids okay :) When the doctor took a bunch of blood and ordered stool samples I started to take notice. Was he really sick? Could it be that something was really going wrong here? When they ordered the colonoscopy I stopped being blind. Thankfully I still wasn't super worried here (I say thankfully because if I had been it wouldn't have helped and I probably would have been doing a ton of research which honestly until you have a diagnosis can be very scary). After all I'd never even heard of colitis and we were still young. Whatever it was had to be minor and easy to fix.
In November 2009 we headed to our nearest city for the test, taking 9 month old Ben with us. TR had to do a fast and drink some nasty stuff to clean out his system. I remember thinking how thankful I was that TR was so capable, so easygoing about it. It hardly seemed to phase him. And he said that once the initial hunger wore off he felt better than he had in a long time. After he was diagnosed it actually made sense why the fast helped.
I hated that feeling of watching him walk away for the procedure. It felt a little scary and out of control. Ben was so cute and did so well, even though I refused to let him crawl around on the hospital floor :) He charmed another patient who was waiting for her turn and really made her day. She just couldn't get enough of him and I remember feeling thankful that I had brought him with, if only to brighten this unwell woman's day.
After TR was done he was really out of it. I asked him questions and he answered them, but later he couldn't remember talking to me or even what he had said! It was so weird but the doctor said that was normal. The paper the doctor gave me said "no cancer" scribbled beneath a bunch of other words and that's when it hit me.
This could have been serious.
In fact, when he was talking to us later he said it was most likely Ulcerative Colitis and I actually felt relief. I knew what cancer was and that was bad. I'd never heard of UC before so how bad could it be?
After we came home and did some research I realized just how bad it could be. And according to the doctor TR had it bad. His whole colon was inflamed. From the rectum to the entire large intestine.
So that was how he was diagnosed. They sent us home with prescriptions and a lifelong sentence to be tied to them. It was heartbreaking watching the man I love try to take pills when the smallest pill can choke him (due to his narrow throat). It was heartbreaking to know that his body was fighting against him and we knew of nothing that could stop it or slow it down.
But the story doesn't end there! We have an amazing Father who gave us a great gift and for that I am thankful beyond words. Less than a year later we had changed our diet and TR has now been prescription drug free for 2 years!!!!! He still has ups and downs and the downs are hard, but we are learning how to care for his body and I have great hope that one day his energy levels will be soaring again!
Our second child was born in March 2009. Right smack dab in the middle of "busy season" for TR. Usually the winter months are much busier for him and this year wasn't too bad but by March it had picked up for sure! I remember thinking that a planned induction would be nice just so I could guarantee that he would be there :)
What I didn't notice was that TR was not doing well. Not at all.
I was complaining of pregnancy problems not even realizing what was happening to him. And it still fills me with grief that I didn't really notice. All I saw was that my back hurt, my sciatic nerve was making my life miserable and the baby never let me sleep. I didn't notice that TR was losing weight, he was in pain and the bathroom was becoming all too familiar with him.
When Ben was born TR was there, thankfully, but not for long. We came home from the hospital less than 24 hours after he was born and TR stayed long enough to help me get him in the house and then he was gone again.
It was easy for me to think that all this working was the reason TR wasn't feeling well, the reason he was losing weight. But then summer came and things didn't change. I thought maybe he just wasn't eating well (if you know us you know the things he liked to take with him to work :) I tried to convince him to stop eating so many sweets and so much pop - but mostly I was just concerned about getting some more sleep and wishing he'd have more energy to help out with the kids. He would come home and crash. He was always tired. I wondered why he couldn't help out more.
Thankfully TR knew something wasn't right and went in to find out what was going on in his body. I think that maybe it was in June or so that he initially went it. I think it might have even been several appointments - my memory of this is a little fuzzy (I was getting up for 2 kids okay :) When the doctor took a bunch of blood and ordered stool samples I started to take notice. Was he really sick? Could it be that something was really going wrong here? When they ordered the colonoscopy I stopped being blind. Thankfully I still wasn't super worried here (I say thankfully because if I had been it wouldn't have helped and I probably would have been doing a ton of research which honestly until you have a diagnosis can be very scary). After all I'd never even heard of colitis and we were still young. Whatever it was had to be minor and easy to fix.
In November 2009 we headed to our nearest city for the test, taking 9 month old Ben with us. TR had to do a fast and drink some nasty stuff to clean out his system. I remember thinking how thankful I was that TR was so capable, so easygoing about it. It hardly seemed to phase him. And he said that once the initial hunger wore off he felt better than he had in a long time. After he was diagnosed it actually made sense why the fast helped.
I hated that feeling of watching him walk away for the procedure. It felt a little scary and out of control. Ben was so cute and did so well, even though I refused to let him crawl around on the hospital floor :) He charmed another patient who was waiting for her turn and really made her day. She just couldn't get enough of him and I remember feeling thankful that I had brought him with, if only to brighten this unwell woman's day.
After TR was done he was really out of it. I asked him questions and he answered them, but later he couldn't remember talking to me or even what he had said! It was so weird but the doctor said that was normal. The paper the doctor gave me said "no cancer" scribbled beneath a bunch of other words and that's when it hit me.
This could have been serious.
In fact, when he was talking to us later he said it was most likely Ulcerative Colitis and I actually felt relief. I knew what cancer was and that was bad. I'd never heard of UC before so how bad could it be?
After we came home and did some research I realized just how bad it could be. And according to the doctor TR had it bad. His whole colon was inflamed. From the rectum to the entire large intestine.
So that was how he was diagnosed. They sent us home with prescriptions and a lifelong sentence to be tied to them. It was heartbreaking watching the man I love try to take pills when the smallest pill can choke him (due to his narrow throat). It was heartbreaking to know that his body was fighting against him and we knew of nothing that could stop it or slow it down.
But the story doesn't end there! We have an amazing Father who gave us a great gift and for that I am thankful beyond words. Less than a year later we had changed our diet and TR has now been prescription drug free for 2 years!!!!! He still has ups and downs and the downs are hard, but we are learning how to care for his body and I have great hope that one day his energy levels will be soaring again!
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