More hurdles (part 3)

I know me.  I cannot cheat or it will become a habit (like after 2x).  I am very strict with my elimination diet.  However, I am terrible at replacing these eliminated foods with healthy, wholesome foods.  I pretty much replaced all my dairy with soy or rice and replaced all my wheat with corn.  I eat a lot of sugar and corn syrup in things like pop, jello & cool whip, snacks... just to name a few.  I love fresh produce, especially out of the garden, but I hate the waste when it isn't used timely.  I love my family eating well, but I hate cooking.  I try to make plenty for leftovers, but it rarely stretches into two complete meals, so to help out I let my family eat the seconds while I drink a pop and eat chips and salsa instead (or something like that).  Over time the sugar and corn overload has caused problems for me as well.  My last trip to Doc, he started talking about Rheumatoid arthritis.  I wanted to cry.  He told me changing my diet could fix it.  Here we go again.... He said to eliminate corn, wheat, dairy, and soy.  Oh, and cut pop and sugar, too.... and all oils but olive oil- no fried foods.  Remember, I'm resilient and resourceful, so I just stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up things I could eat.  I remember reading something long ago about tomatoes and arthritis so I decided to eliminate tomato products, too.  In the grocery store I was just walking the aisles pushing my basket with my swollen fingers and wrists gathering fresh greens, frozen and fresh fruits and items to make smoothies and salads.  I remember getting to the point where I was looking at all the items on the shelves and thinking to myself, "This is poison.   It's all poison to my body."  Almost everything processed and packaged has corn, tomato, gluten or whey in it.  Nothing is easy anymore. 

I saw huge change in that first day already.  By the second day, my health was back but the arthritis remained.  A week later, I'm discouraged that the arthritis is still present but feeling so much better.  Knowing that I didn't get here overnight and that it won't go away overnight isn't much consolation.  I want my grasp and my hands to work like the strong woman that I am.  This is very humbling and irritating.  I'm too young for this disabling state.  I don't like asking my daughters to open my water bottles or turn the key in the ignition for me or my friends to carry things for me.  It's a good thing that I don't have too much pride to ask for help... I have always seen it as a strength to ask for help when in need.  Let others be a blessing.  It's good for everyone.

A month later, I'm learning more and more about foods that inflame and foods that suppress inflammation.  I've studied up on the nutritional supplements that help fight inflammation, too.  It's such a process- that of knowing your health and keeping yourself healthy (and your family, too).  I've come to accept this for now and I do what I can.  The mornings are the worst!  I hurt so badly I can barely get dressed.  Today, I had Rayne tie my shoes.  Other days I've had help hooking my bra.  Getting moving and staying busy is the best medicine along with nutritional supplements and eating correctly.  I'm open for advice on arthritis therapies and nutritional choices and encouragement.   What I miss the most right now is wearing my wedding ring.  I have four fingers that are heavily affected  and swell and my ring finger is one of them.  I haven't share this with very many people- no one likes to listen to someone else's health woes.  This too shall pass... I whole-heartily am believing this right now.

Change... expected and unexpected (part two)

Change.  The first thing to do was to eliminate every offender on each of our lists for a minimum of 90 days without cheating even once!  Easier said than done with 8-9-12 year old children.  Once we ridded the pantry and fridge of all the forbiddens, honestly, there wasn't much left.  Once I started reading the nutrition labels and ingredients lists on everything packaged from the grocery store, it looked even more bleak.  But, I'm resilient and resourceful, and I set my mind to it and figured it out.  I had a handful of friends that I knew were dealing with various and similar diet restrictions.  What an overwhelming blessing they were!  They knew lots of the tricks- where to buy what, how to substitute this, and lots of trial and error notes and recipes.  They literally got me "us" through the first 90 days.  So what did we eat, you are wondering.... eating out was no longer much fun.  Socials were a nightmare.  School lunches were pretty much off-limits with few exceptions.  Regan's school was so helpful in trying to cook for Regan's restrictions.  Those ladies are gems!  The public school, the other hand, wouldn't even bend to let the girls use the microwave for a hot lunch even once a week!  We ate at home, period.  When we left home, we took our food with us.  When we started this, I had no idea how much food my family consumes in a day!  I was cooking and shopping and cooking and shopping all the time!  It was just amazing to me to realize what we were eating and where it was coming from.  What did we eat?  Roast beef (pot roast), chili... thank heavens for frito chili pies in the concession stands through the winter!!  Stew and several variations of soups.  Gluten-free pancakes, bacon, jello, several different cookie recipes I gleaned from my friends.  Steak and baked potatoes.  Cold cereal with rice milk.  Hamburger patties, corn pasta for spaghetti, dairy free butter spread, soy cheese & soy "fake" sour cream, skittles, jelly beans, popcorn.  Eventually I found lots of really tasty things to replace some of the staples, but these things were not to be found in rural western Oklahoma and even hard to track down in Oklahoma City.  Tulsa seemed to be where all the gluten-free (GF), dairy-free (DF) people lived and shopped.... said with heavy sarcasm. The internet became my dry good resource and I buy in bulk.  Even though Amazon carries much of my preferred products, finding these GF/DF products came with a price... about 30-40% increase in costs.  But still, even willing to pay for the higher prices and shopping online, there were just some things that I couldn't replace easily.  Bread was a biggie.  We'd tried a couple different kinds that were just bad.  I was read to give up on bread and did for about 6 months.

The first three months ended right at Thanksgiving.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely!  Regan's inflammation was completely GONE.  She could breath through her nose easily, effortlessly.  First time ever.  Her skin had cleared up, she slimmed down and toned up to a very healthy weight.  Rosalind's tummy troubles were GONE.  Rayne's skin mysteries were GONE!  No more steroid cream for her!  Rodney felt better and lost around 20 pounds.  I had just come through the easiest allergy season since its onset and felt great and had lots of energy.  All five of us were feeling amazing.

Thanksgiving day I gave my family permission to "cheat" with some self-control.  We maintained our diets through December with occasional splurging on the holiday favorites.  I can say for myself that I ate one item (a cookie or a roll) about once a week for 4 weeks, and it took all of January to recover.  It was so-not-worth-it for me, so I went back to the rigid elimination diet.  First week of January, Rodney had gotten into some oreo balls that he didn't know were full of forbidden ingredients.  I watched him eat them... several of them.  I thought, "he's a big boy.  He can make those decisions for himself."  He had just told me the night to two before how eating gluten upset his stomach and made him miserable.  He wasn't too happy when those balls started reeking havoc in his tummy.... and when I told him that I watched him eat them without saying anything.

I expected it to be hard- really hard.  I expected some mourning over the eliminated foods.  I expected to feel some better because of my efforts (fallacy).  I expected to receive help and support from those closest to me (um, false).  I expected it to be costly.  I expected to get sick of the meals on the approved food list.  I expected to be cooking all the time.  I expected the battle with the children.

I didn't expect the resistance from family and friends.  I didn't expect to be treated and spoke to like I was completely crazy.  I didn't expect to feel 100% better.  I didn't expect my whole family to benefit from it so quickly and visibly.  I hadn't thought through the social aspect of food and the challenge of eating at someone else's house or at a party or group social.  I hadn't realized how much I would miss going out to eat.  But it doesn't end here.

A necessary evil- part one

Who knew that anyone could consider food a necessary evil?!  I have some friends who truly savor each bite of their favorite foods- you can hear it in their soft sighs of contentment while they eat.  I like good food, don't get me wrong, but anymore it just doesn't seem worth the effort.  I wish so badly that there was a pill or a shake that could nourish my body for prime health and that I could skip eating altogether.

Last summer I took a trip to Seattle for an appointment at the IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Treatment Center.  Why in the world would I choose to see a doctor in Washington you ask?   Dr. Wangen is an MD who also has IBS and also utilizes holistic/alternative/natural medicine in his practice.  These three characteristics (MD, has IBS, believes in alternative medicine) in common was exactly what I was looking for to help me.  Practical, practical, practical!  Let's treat the cause not the symptoms and use every resource available to achieve good health.  AND he's been there and done that!  A bonus of empathy!  Have I been diagnosed with IBS?  No, but after extensive reading & research and much time, thought, and prayer, I knew this trip would be worth my time and money.

And it was.  I learned so much more and had my fears set at ease, but the changes to come were going to be so hard.... in reality, so much harder than just sheer willpower.  Upon receiving test results, I learned of the foods that my body considers allergens. The primary weapon that our bodies use against invaders is the production of antibodies. The antibodies cause reactions that result in the offending allergens being removed from the body. In many people, foods act as allergens rather than nutrition.  This list of now prohibited foods was not pretty.... wheat, dairy, bananas, pecans, gluten, pineapple, eggs, asparagus, broccoli, .... the list goes on.  Elimination was the goal.  Once I set my mind to something, it's done.  Elimination began immediately.  Mainly I "got by" on corn chips, 2 bean-corn dip, and Dr. Pepper.  Allergy season was approaching quickly and after a month of this new way of eating, I found that I had handled allergy season better than I ever had since the onset of my allergies 10 years prior.  Yea!! Huge victory, and many of my IBS symptoms were either manageable or gone, too.

My oldest daughter (12 yrs. old) suffers from allergies. too.  When it's bad, she's almost asthmatic.  Inflamed nasal passages and mouth breathing are completely normal for her anytime of the year.  [Yes, we've had her to conventional allergy doctors with no relief]  Rodney and I decided to take her to our local center that does some of the same tests I traveled to Seattle to get.  In a month we tested three more- Rodney, Regan and Rosalind.  I described Regan's symptoms.  Rodney knew there was better health available and his weight was a concern.  Rosalind had irregular digestive pains (unexplainable tummy aches).  And Rayne who we did not test at that time (due to cost) has a metal/skin allergy and increasing skin conditions causing rashes, hives, etc. [And yes, I've had Rayne to several conventional doctors with not much explanation or relief-  I even diagnosed the metal allergy after an dermatologist at OU Med. Center missed it! Ridiculous.]  Needless to say, our test results we all different but with a very common thread... allergic to dairy, wheat, gluten, eggs... Everything else varied quiet a bit.  Some foods listed made Regan rejoice!  Lettuce, for example, lol.  Anyway, now we were all on elimination diets.  No more "getting by".  It was a full-fledged change for the whole family.