From my July: A Fearless Woman calendar:
She weaves a web of resilience
Resilient - from the Latin resile: to bounce back
From countless tests and tumbles
she crafts a net of tenacity and fortitude.
With a glowing confidence she bounces back
to take the risks and rise again.
Week 3 of my very disciplined diet of no sugar or refined carbs is moving along. This whole foods diet using dairy only as a condiment and eating almost no sugar or carbs is the "rest of my life" diet. Organic vegetables, fruit, beans, quinoa, lean organic meat and wild fresh Alaskan fish. I've had a little steel cut oats with raisins and cinnamon and some smoothies made with full fat Greek yogurt and berries. I am drinking lots of green tea and have a cup of coffee every morning with coconut milk and stevia in it. What a treat! I've lost 8 pounds and would like to loose about 20 more. I think it will happen slowly and surely as I'm walking the loop (2.5 miles) and swimming 30-50 lengths of the pool (one or the other daily and sometimes both in one day) and I'm doing Pilates 2 times per week (I would do more but it is so expensive). I start Aqua Zumba this Saturday. My blood sugar numbers are down some with this diet, activity and having started the diabetes medication. I've been feeling better!!!
I'm looking forward to going to see Henry Kapono this evening at the Triple door with my sister in law Jackie, seeing my parents here in Seattle tomorrow, helping my son prepare for an art show he is doing and Sunday taking my grandson to Snohomish for a train ride on Thomas the train. Peter leaves on Monday for a big fishing trip in Canada with 2 of his buddies. I gave him the trip as a gift on our 10th anniversary last year. Life is good!
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
The good news is I'm still here and realize more and more that I can make the choice to feel good. Sometimes it is mind over matter or recognizing that this might be my new normal and I can choose to be happy when I don't feel as good as I used to. Sometimes I feel like complaining and describing repeatedly in great detail exactly what is ailing me at that moment and through out the day but in reality that doesn't really make me feel better. Not that I'm being a Pollyanna all the time or in denial about my discomfort but just as with children, distraction and changing the subject can work well.
I can begin the day by reminding myself that Life supports me and wants me to be fulfilled and happy. Eating right and exercising are good choices I can make that help me feel better. Basically Love is all there is and all I really need to focus on; so a smile from one of my 3 beautiful grandchildren can go a long way toward feeling good if I let it. I try to let in and remember all the love and good I have in my life. Sometimes when I'm working in my garden I bask in the glow of Life's love, which shines on me like the summer sun. It feels as though the whole world and everyone in it loves me. It may have taken me a long while to understand this, but now I feel it in every fiber of my being at times. All my relationships are at peace and I truly have all that I really need. This is a good time to think about how I want to be remembered. I hope to be remembered as kind and smiling much of the time among other things.
The bad news is that the canoe journey that I did for almost 20 years is currently underway without me. This is my second year to miss it due to the cancer management. Last year I had been in surgery a week before it started and this year with some of the new challenges I'm facing with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and intestinal discomfort I decided not to go. I believe I will be able to go next year and that it was best for me to still take care of myself now with a steady schedule of taking medications (2 new ones), eating right, sleeping well and moving my body in a way that gets me back in shape. All this isn't always possible when paddling 30-40 miles in the open ocean and then camping along the way for at least a week to 10 days. I was almost ready to go and it was a hard decision to remain here and not help my Raven Canoe family members on this years journey to Bella Bella on the BC coast. I trust I made the right decision for myself and the others in the canoe who might not have been able to get me to shore in time to go to the bathroom. :-) Limitations are merely opportunities to grow. I use them as stepping stones to success what ever that might be now in my life. Rather than bemoan my loss of the canoe journey experience this year I remember that my happy thoughts help create my healthy body and that there are endless possibilities to focus on when something I think I wanted doesn't appear or develop. I am safe in this world and make safe choices for my health. I am comfortable with change and growth.
The ugly is that I'm now taking more different medications and supplements. I've gone to one of those daily organizational pill holders because there were too many bottles on the bathroom counter (ugly). :-) I just started metformin for the diabetes that developed because my pancreas is compromised. I also started a small half a pill to keep water weight down and for the edema in my feet. I take a small dose of high blood pressure medication, a thyroid pill, iron, a pro-biotic and vitamin C, D3, magnesium, calcium and Turkey tail mushroom capsules for immune support.
My recent labs resulted and I have some questions for Dr, Chad, Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and oncologist when I see him 7/17. I'm not sure why my Hemoglobin A1C is in the high range, ALK Phos is high and CRP Cardiac (the most concerning) is high sensitive at 5.3 (normal is 0-3). My next appointment with Group Health Oncologist Dr. Feldman is August 7th. This will be to evaluate the results of the August 4th labs and August 6th CT scan.
Dr. Chad recommended a new oncologist, Dr. Pillarisetty at SCCA. He is a specialist on the pancreas (various cancer and illnesses) and liver metastases. I am in the process of getting a referral from Group Health to have a second opinion consult with him. My SCCA oncologist Dr. Back also thought it was a good idea for me to discuss my case with him to see what else we might be able to do moving forward. We want to prolong life of course and also keep working on quality of life, meaning how I'm feeling.
I found a new book, ordered it in the mail and read most it this week end on management of diabetes with diet instead of drugs. Even though I began the medication I am hopeful that I will get my blood sugars down to the point where I will not longer need to take it. In the book is a proven (lots of data) step by step plan to reverse type 2 diabetes naturally. As with so much else that I've read and implemented in addition to diet and exercise stress reduction is key. I continue to work on having a "good attitude" and a sense of humor. :-)
I'll end with more quotes related to my health journey that appear in the new book.
"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt". Mark Twain
"Perhaps everything terrible is in its being something that needs our love". Rainer Maria Rilke
"I've learned that nothing is impossible; and almost nothing is easy". Anonymous
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending". Carl Bard
"looking back, we see with great clarity, and what once appeared as difficulties, now reveal themselves as blessings". Dan Millman
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease". Thomas Edison 1847-1931
Happy Summer!!!!
I can begin the day by reminding myself that Life supports me and wants me to be fulfilled and happy. Eating right and exercising are good choices I can make that help me feel better. Basically Love is all there is and all I really need to focus on; so a smile from one of my 3 beautiful grandchildren can go a long way toward feeling good if I let it. I try to let in and remember all the love and good I have in my life. Sometimes when I'm working in my garden I bask in the glow of Life's love, which shines on me like the summer sun. It feels as though the whole world and everyone in it loves me. It may have taken me a long while to understand this, but now I feel it in every fiber of my being at times. All my relationships are at peace and I truly have all that I really need. This is a good time to think about how I want to be remembered. I hope to be remembered as kind and smiling much of the time among other things.
The bad news is that the canoe journey that I did for almost 20 years is currently underway without me. This is my second year to miss it due to the cancer management. Last year I had been in surgery a week before it started and this year with some of the new challenges I'm facing with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and intestinal discomfort I decided not to go. I believe I will be able to go next year and that it was best for me to still take care of myself now with a steady schedule of taking medications (2 new ones), eating right, sleeping well and moving my body in a way that gets me back in shape. All this isn't always possible when paddling 30-40 miles in the open ocean and then camping along the way for at least a week to 10 days. I was almost ready to go and it was a hard decision to remain here and not help my Raven Canoe family members on this years journey to Bella Bella on the BC coast. I trust I made the right decision for myself and the others in the canoe who might not have been able to get me to shore in time to go to the bathroom. :-) Limitations are merely opportunities to grow. I use them as stepping stones to success what ever that might be now in my life. Rather than bemoan my loss of the canoe journey experience this year I remember that my happy thoughts help create my healthy body and that there are endless possibilities to focus on when something I think I wanted doesn't appear or develop. I am safe in this world and make safe choices for my health. I am comfortable with change and growth.
The ugly is that I'm now taking more different medications and supplements. I've gone to one of those daily organizational pill holders because there were too many bottles on the bathroom counter (ugly). :-) I just started metformin for the diabetes that developed because my pancreas is compromised. I also started a small half a pill to keep water weight down and for the edema in my feet. I take a small dose of high blood pressure medication, a thyroid pill, iron, a pro-biotic and vitamin C, D3, magnesium, calcium and Turkey tail mushroom capsules for immune support.
My recent labs resulted and I have some questions for Dr, Chad, Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and oncologist when I see him 7/17. I'm not sure why my Hemoglobin A1C is in the high range, ALK Phos is high and CRP Cardiac (the most concerning) is high sensitive at 5.3 (normal is 0-3). My next appointment with Group Health Oncologist Dr. Feldman is August 7th. This will be to evaluate the results of the August 4th labs and August 6th CT scan.
Dr. Chad recommended a new oncologist, Dr. Pillarisetty at SCCA. He is a specialist on the pancreas (various cancer and illnesses) and liver metastases. I am in the process of getting a referral from Group Health to have a second opinion consult with him. My SCCA oncologist Dr. Back also thought it was a good idea for me to discuss my case with him to see what else we might be able to do moving forward. We want to prolong life of course and also keep working on quality of life, meaning how I'm feeling.
I found a new book, ordered it in the mail and read most it this week end on management of diabetes with diet instead of drugs. Even though I began the medication I am hopeful that I will get my blood sugars down to the point where I will not longer need to take it. In the book is a proven (lots of data) step by step plan to reverse type 2 diabetes naturally. As with so much else that I've read and implemented in addition to diet and exercise stress reduction is key. I continue to work on having a "good attitude" and a sense of humor. :-)
I'll end with more quotes related to my health journey that appear in the new book.
"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt". Mark Twain
"Perhaps everything terrible is in its being something that needs our love". Rainer Maria Rilke
"I've learned that nothing is impossible; and almost nothing is easy". Anonymous
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending". Carl Bard
"looking back, we see with great clarity, and what once appeared as difficulties, now reveal themselves as blessings". Dan Millman
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease". Thomas Edison 1847-1931
Happy Summer!!!!
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