My dogs are barking.

Ouchie wah wah.  The pain in my feet continues, as well as the tingling in my face, hand and leg, though that seems like nothing now that this pain has started.  Nothing seems to help, so if any of you out there have suggestions let me know. Besides a lot of massaging from the DSH I’ve only really tried anti-inflammatory OTC drugs, but like I said, little to no change.  

I’ve ordered several items from Amazon that I have high hopes for, like this foot roller thingy:  

I also ordered one of those car bead things for the driver seat, and I’m unreasonably excited about it, because I suddenly became an 80 year old woman.  I can’t help it, I just know it’s going to feel so good. 

I’ve been meaning to make an appointment for a massage, but my work schedule has remained a bit too hectic, and I don’t want to.  Just a couple more weeks and things should calm down, though.  I haven’t headed back to yoga yet, but I plan to.  I don’t know where you all live, but where I live it is miserably hot, and I thought the building was hot last week, when the temperature was normal, so I’m not going back till it cools off.  I’ve discovered this is one thing the articles and books aren’t joking about, I have no tolerance for heat.  I wasn’t ever a summer kid anyway, but now I refuse to even mess with it.  

I did start working out with my trainer again.  That feels good, in that if-you-make-me-do-one-more-squat-I’m-going-to-punch-you-in-the-ding-dong sort of way.  Just playin’.  I don’t mind squats, but I will punch someone over push ups.  

I’ve mostly finished reading Dr. Terry Wahl’s The Wahl’s Protocol.  If you have MS and you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.  It not only talks about nutrition for brain diseases, it also covers exercise, alternative therapies, supplements, and basically every other aspect of fighting disease.  One thing she mentions is swimming.  I discovered this on my recent trip to Myrtle Beach, too.  (Not swimming, I’m pretty sure someone else invented it.  I just mean how good it feels when I’m having a relapse).  My gym doesn’t have a pool, and I’m extremely loyal to my trainer, so I don’t want to switch.  Instead, the DSH and I are considering an Endless Pool.  It’s quite an investment, so we’ll have to do a lot more research, but right now we’re considering turning the garage into the pool room.  Dr. Wahl has one and claims it’s one of the best purchases she has made since learning of her diagnosis.  Every time I think of one I immediately remember how awesome it felt swimming in the pool at the hotel in Myrtle Beach.  I want one!  You can even get one with dual temperature controls, so it’s half pool, half hot tub.  Sign me up!   

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, so here’s one of my go-to faves (and since I don’t write recipes, the instructions might be terrible, but I’ll try!).  So easy, so healthy! 

KALE CHIPS

Take one bunch of kale.  You should probably wash it, then dry it. 

Rip the leaves off.  I like to leave them bigger, because they’re going to shrink up, and if they are already too little, you’ll have kale crumbs instead of chips.

Oh, I forgot to tell you to turn the oven to 300 degrees. Fahrenheit.  

Once you have your leaves torn off, put them in a bowl.  Pour in about 1/2 TBS of olive oil.  Rub it into the kale really well.  I hope you washed your hands!

Now, lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Pop into the oven for 20 minutes and MAGIC! I usually eat the whole bunch, and it’s great, because since it’s cooked so low, nutrients stay more intact, and that’s a huge serving of greens.  Enjoy!

 

 

Yoga ta be kidding me!

I hate yoga.

I went to my first class this week.  I’ve done yoga before.  I’m pretty sure everyone has.  Because it’s stretching. Glorified stretching.  Slightly more organized and a lot more expensive.

I like to exercise, for the most part, but I’d rather shake my booty with Richard Simmons and Sweatin’ to the Oldies than be put to sleep in a yoga class.  Or Zumba, or kickboxing, or whatever.  I don’t think Sweatin’ to the Oldies is still a thing.

“Now focus on the exhale as you slowly bring your leg back down into mountain pose…”

I’m just not made to relax, apparently.  But I won’t give up! Because it’s already pre-paid and I’m a cheap-o!  I will make myself love yoga.  I’m just going to have to find a shorter class.  An hour is about 30 minutes beyond my attention span.

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I picked up another book on diet and MS.  This one is called Wahls Protocol.  I think I mentioned it in a post before, about the Dr. who had MS and decided to treat it with paleo principles after years of pills did nothing for her.  It’s really interesting, and the best part is that she outlines a level of the diet where participants can remain vegan or vegetarian.  It’s good to have options, especially ones that are already in line with my current belief system! Smiley face, smiley face.

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I had a major episode last night.  A few days ago I was ready to declare this relapse officially over, but it came back last night with a vengeance.  An attack on my feet.  I don’t really know how to describe it, except maybe something like wearing high heels for 16 hours…upside down.  It felt like something was stabbing me in my heels.  My feet are still a bit painful today, and the bottoms of my legs are numb and tingly.  My goal is to be able to identify the triggers, if there are any.  Was it because I accidentally got glutened? Was it because I got too hot? Was I stressed? Probably all of those things, or none of those things.  I can just tell you it was the worst night I think I’ve had so far, therefore it was also the DSH’s worst night, I’m sure.  “Oh my god, it hurts ,it hurts, it hurts! I don’t know what to do! Cry cry, sob sob.” And then he’d rub my legs or feet or hand or arm or whatever was the problem at the moment, then get me some anti-inflammatories and try to calm me down. It’s much better now.  The first few steps are still painful, but it seems to go away after I walk a bit.  I suppose this is going to be a long learning experience.  According to the National MS Society, only about half of MS patients experience chronic pain, but I thought it was interesting that the very first case listed is exactly what I am going through.  Ouchie mama!

Happy Saturday all!

We Need to Talk

I’m seriously considering adding fish to my diet permanently.  Not often, just a couple times a week, maybe less.  

I’m stressin’ about this, ya’ll.  

I’ve been a vegan for just over four years.  I truly believe in the benefits of a plant-based diet, blah, blah, blah, but lately I’ve seen so much information about cholesterol and the brain that I’m starting to wonder.  There’s even a best selling book by an MS patient that claims to have “cured” MS with a paleo diet. 

Also, about a year or two ago I came across an article that claimed vegans should be fine with eating oysters and mussels, and I thought it made sense.  Here’s the article.  For those too lazy to read it, the basic premise is “no brain, no pain.”  I’ve also had a severe B12 deficiency, even though I was taking about twice the RDA  in vitamin form. The doctor said it was a result of celiac disease, but also that there is evidence the body doesn’t absorb nutrients from vitamins as well as nutrients obtained directly from food.  Now, I know I have a nurse or two following this blog, and I believe even a doctor or two.  Lots of vegans, and lots of meat eaters.  I’m hoping to generate a very real discussion about this.  There’s so much conflicting information that it’s stressing me out, and that’s numero uno on the things to avoid! HELP! 

So back to this whole cholesterol and the brain thing.  I recently read the book Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD.  Dr. Perlmutter makes a very convincing argument that the brain needs and thrives off cholesterol, and in case you didn’t know, the only way to get that is by eating animal products.  In case you also didn’t know, MS affects the brain.  I haven’t had enough time to do further research, like I said, I’m only considering this move.  And not lightly.  I’ve done some research.  If I choose to add fish to my diet, I’ll only be shopping from Food and Water Watch’s Smart Seafood Guide.  This list includes the most sustainable options, and I looked at my local grocery store, and they have some of their fresh seafood options labeled “environmentally friendly” and appear to use the same list.  

The one thing all of the articles on choosing the best diet for MS seem to agree on is this: Dairy is poison.  I bet that just pissed some people off.  If only I was Oprah famous, maybe I, too, could get sued by industrialized ag.  Anywho, Here’s an article.  And another one. And yet another one.  

So, to sum up this rambling mess, I’m considering not being vegan anymore and I want you to talk me out of it.  Or into it.  I can’t freaking decide. I’ve dabbled in the pescatarian world here and there, and I do love seafood.  I will not eat a mammal- I see no difference between a cow or pig and a dog, so that’s off the table.  I guess I should add here that I don’t care if you eat meat.  In fact, if you do, hit me up.  I know and work with some awesome farmers who treat their animals well, no tiny pens or cages, and you should buy your meat from them. It’s just not my thing.  

So, what do you guys think? My number one concern is beating this disease.  Stopping any plans it has for progression dead in its tracks.  TELL ME WHAT TO DO! 

In Like Flynn

That was so easy! I have an appointment with the Mayo Clinic next month.  I have to be there an entire week! Look out Scottsdale!

In the meantime, I’ve been collecting all my medical records from everyone I’ve seen for anything related to this diagnosis. Last week I picked up the lumbar puncture records.  That was the first time I’d seen my diagnosis on paper.

DIAGNOSIS: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Sounds shady.    

Since getting into the Mayo Clinic was so easy I’ve decided to move on to a new challenge.  I’m unstoppable! 

I want to get my dogs certified as service animals. This place seems legit-ish.  I would love to take my dogs everywhere for no reason at all.  I know a guy here in town that has a service Chihuahua.  He takes him to the bars and just lets him run all over the place! How fun! Just one small problem.  My pups are top notch a-holes most of the time. But I love them! Anyway, it looks like, according to the website, I could lie my face off and get my dogs certified in about 20 minutes.  That seems crazy and completely irresponsible! Let’s do it! 

Just kidding- I could never take my dogs anywhere. They really are sweet, but I’ve royally screwed them up by giving them everything they’ve ever wanted, and they’ve become unreasonably protective as a result.  I’ve seen the Boxer try to bust through glass to terrorize the mail lady.  But, my oh my, aren’t they the cutest things you’ve ever seen?

Little Angels

My DSH made me another delicious smoothie since we last chatted.  It was from the same website, Mind, Body, Green.

The dirty deets:

Tropical Cleanse

1 cup frozen or fresh pineapple

1 small to medium banana (ripe and peeled)                                                                                   

1 inch piece of ginger

2 handfuls of spinach

1 cup water or coconut water (unpasteurized)

 

Just throw it all in the blender and voila! Green goodness! If you’re worried about tasting spinach, you don’t.  At all.  

 

And I discovered a delightful new magazine this weekend.  It’s called Naturally by Danny Seo.  Where Style Meets Sustainability.  Full of recipes, decorating tips, and travel info.  You really should check it out.  I got my copy at Lowe’s.  Why was I at Lowe’s? Because I CAN’T STOP WATCHING HGTV.   

 

Island Blast

I’m on a mission.  I want to go to the Mayo Clinic.  

Yesterday I received a call from my specialist’s office claiming they did not have my next appointment scheduled.  They claimed to have received no medical records from my primary care physician (PCP), and wanted to schedule an appointment with me to assess the “numbness and tingling in my lips.”  And then I lost it.  In the most calm, cool, and collected manner possible. “Uh, I think we’re past that stage.” 

My “losing it” accomplished nothing, except I’m sure my chart is now flagged as “raging psychopath.”  My next appointment isn’t until Sept. 20th.  In the meantime, I’m on a mission to be seen by the Mayo Clinic.  I don’t care which one, but since I hate Florida and don’t think of Minnesota as a destination location, I’d prefer the clinic in Arizona.  But I’m not picky- whichever one can see me the fastest.  

Also, my dear, sweet husband (DSH, or domestic short haired, for those of us in the field) made me a delicious cleansing smoothie this morning! Stolen from Mind, Body, Green, we broke the fast with the Island Blast:

1 small to medium banana (ripe and peeled)

1 rib of celery

¼ cucumber (peeled if not organic)

1 cup of fresh or frozen pineapple

1 small handful of parsley

½ inch piece of ginger (or less if you’re new to ginger)

1-2 cups of coconut water (unpasteurized)

 

It was really good! I was concerned about the parsley, but it added good flavor.  We have a Ninja blender, it’s pretty good.  Maybe we’ll upgrade to the the almighty VitaMix one day (the day one of you gifts it to me).  We’re also in the market for a new juicer.  We have a cheap-o one from Target right now, but it doesn’t extract much juice, and the thought of cleaning it is such a drag.  If any of you have suggestions for a juicer, hit me up! My dream juicer is $1220.00.  And it will remain just that…but I am willing to spend a few hundred dollars.  It is my health after all, and produce is expensive, so I want to squeeze every possible drop out of the organic cucumber.

 

By the way, that’s my brain at the top.  Looks just fine to me, but then again, I have no idea what I’m talking about.  

Q&A

I’ve received an outpouring of support since I started this blog just a few days ago.  Thanks a mil!

A lot of you have questions, and I don’t really have many answers.  I promise, you don’t have more questions than I do, but we can figure them out together.  I’ll answer what I can.

Q: How do you feel?

A:  Mostly fine.  I just got back from Margaritaville at Myrtle Beach, so maybe a little buzzed, but mostly fine.  By the way, Margaritaville offers both a vegetarian and gluten-free menu.  I’m not a huge fan of chains, but the girlies had a blast and the food was good, so it worked.  Also, I really do feel fine.  I’m exhausted, but I’m not sure that has anything to do with MS.  It could definitely be that I just finished a campaign working almost 100 hours a week for two months straight.  Also, I tingle.  I made a diagram.  This latest episode is the first to bring about face tingling, but the elbow-to-fingers and thigh-to-toes thing has been going on for well over a year. I tingle in the red zones.   

 

Rarely does it turn into pain, but sometimes.  It usually feels like my foot/leg/hand is JUUUUUUUST about to fall asleep, and if I can get up and shake it out I can stop it before it becomes full on pins and needles, but I can’t, and it doesn’t.  It just…tingles, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If this episode is like my previous episodes (or relapses, as professionals like to call them), then this will last for a few weeks to a few months, then completely go away.  It may never come back, but so far it always has, and just a little bit worse- another limb/body part gets added in, a little bit longer, and a little bit more intense, etc.

I’ve also had a few unexplained stumbles, and have noticed that lately my words don’t always come out as fast as my brain is moving, but I’m also no spring chickadee.  Here’s an article from the Mayo Clinic on the main symptoms of MS.  Luckily, none of this has affected my daily life.  It’s just really annoying.

Q: Are you scared?

A: Not really.  If I’d been going through this 30 years ago things would be much different, but this article claims a huge surge in the MS research field in the late 90s, so if you’re going to get it, I say get it now (as opposed to 1970).  Also, things could have been much worse.  When I was in the hospital for the lumbar puncture I grabbed my chart and read the radiologist’s report from the MRI.  “White matter lesions of the corpus callosum.  Possible MS.  Also possible low grade glioma or lymphoma.”  Now, I won’t bore you with the details, but if you want to look up the prognosis of those other two things then you’ll understand why, “you have MS” was an “oh thank god” moment at our house.

And here’s a list of famous people with MS.  Hopefully the only thing I will ever have in common with Ann Romney…also strangely absent from the list, President Jed Bartlett from the West Wing.

Stress and heat seem to be two of the major triggers of MS symptoms, so I’m off to lounge in the shade on the beach.

 

 

On the Road Again

Driving from the middle of the middle out to Myrtle Beach.  “It’s only 16 hours! That’s nothing!” Ha.  We’re currently in Kentucky.  No wait, Tennessee.  Next stop: Charlotte, North Carolina.  

We just stopped in Knoxville, TN for lunch.  The restaurant was amazing, with multiple menu choices for every dietary restriction you could dream of.  Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and humanely raised, sustainable meats and cheeses.  If you have any type of dietary restriction you know a restaurant like this is a gold mine.  Every single person in the car was able to eat- including my niece who had a delicious-looking macaroni and cheese pizza.

 

Anyway, like I said, these restaurants are few and far between, so if you ever find yourself in Knoxville, TN, I highly recommend The Tomato Head.  I give it 4 stars up.  They even have my two favorite gluten-free beers! Omission and Estrella Damm Daura.  Now, both of these beers technically contain gluten, but it’s less than the 20 parts per million (ppm) guidelines that companies must follow to be able to label something “gluten-free.”  I know a lot of celiacs and even gluten sensitive people who won’t touch them, but I say, pass that golden nectar over here, because if I have to drink another POS made from sorghum I’m gonna puke up my gluten-free vegan pizza.  Besides, if the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)  says it’s safe (and they do), then take one down and pass it around.

We just crossed the state line into North Carolina!  SCORE!

White Matter Lesions

That was not my favorite day.

Sometime last week I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or as I like to call it, “I can’t feel my face.”  It was a week ago today.  I haven’t really had any time to think about it due to an impossible work schedule, but now I’ve got some down time, and so it begins.

For background, I went to the doctor almost two years ago because my legs had fallen asleep.  For 4 weeks.  Blood tests revealed a lot of vitamin deficiencies that doctors chalked up to celiac disease (diagnosed 3 years prior to this episode). I received prescription doses of a bunch of crap I could have bought at CVS for a fraction of the price, and was told I’d be fine.  A few “episodes”, an MRI or four, a lumbar puncture, and countless blood tests later and here we are!

As you can imagine, I’ve read everything I can find in the last two weeks on multiple sclerosis- at least online.  And I promise you I’m 1000 times dumber for it.  I’ve given up on reading for awhile- unless it’s in an academic journal, here or here.

I’ve decided at this point to treat this incurable disease as holistically and naturally as possible, and I’m going to blog about it.  Right now that means a vegan diet free of processed foods, GMOs, and other unnatural additives, exercise, yoga, massages, and whatever other spoiling I can trick Kevin into.  I know this is a very controversial decision, but fret not.  In a couple of weeks I go back to the doctor and I might change my mind.