Living with Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, and....

Parenting Classes

2011-06-01T22:47:00.000-04:00

We are 1/2 through with our parenting classes, called MAPP training or classes towards adoption! I guess last week was hubby's week, this week was mine. Last week we had to do this visualization and then tell how it made you feel. Well it made Stephen feel very angry. This week we were learning about different parenting styles, Positive and negative consequences. Negative consequences are like questioning, sarcasm, and more. And, I don't mean the child's actions, I mean the parents. More specifically parent's reactions to children's actions. I saw a lot of my childhood in the "negative" consequences. I found it hard to keep from crying and to leave the room. It's all a process and I made it through. :)
On the plus side, I made semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies with pecans and splenda and everyone loved them.
I am thinking of taking my 4 year old little cousin to swim lessons this summer, that would be fun!

Early signs of fibromyalgia

2011-06-01T02:28:00.000-04:00

by Dr. Deborah Bauers
Fibromyalgia has been called both a disease and a syndrome. From its earliest signs through the development and duration of its more chronic symptoms it is neither life threatening nor degenerative. Its pathology does not manifest as a true disease process and yet the chronic pain that a fibromyalgia sufferer experiences can make it a debilitating condition. Its complex set of physiological abnormalities make it a recognized health issue that can create significant pain and fatigue.
Fibromyalgia is a rheumatoid-like condition that impacts the soft tissues, tendons, and muscles of the body causing exhaustion and discomfort. One of its earliest but most conclusive signs is often recognized and identified as the presence of pressure sensitive trigger points that are quite painful when palpated. These pressure points are usually located behind the head and neck, on the shoulders, and behind the knees and elbows.
There are numerous symptoms often associated with fibromyalgia many of which can also be symptomatic of other autoimmune diseases. For this reason, a rheumatologist or physician who specializes in treating autoimmune diseases is the best healthcare professional to diagnose fibromyalgia. Before the diagnosis can be made, blood work and x-rays must be done to rule out osteoarthritis, thyroid problems, and other auto-immune diseases such as lupus, Sjrogen’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis.
Earliest symptoms, together with specific pressure points, that often suggest the onset of fibromyalgia include the following:
1. Pain in the groin
2. Difficulty climbing stairs and hills
3. Chronic sinus problems
4. Dry mouth
5. Stiffness upon waking
6. Dry eyes
7. Difficulty swallowing
8. Chronic fatigue
Numerous other symptoms may occur and become chronic as an individual struggles with fibromyalgia over time. These include:
1. Irritable bowel
2. Headaches
3. Tingling and/or numbness in the extremities
4. Depression
5. Bladder spasms
6. Difficulty concentrating
7. Memory loss
8. Dizziness
9. Sleep disturbances
Much controversy surrounds the origins and precipitating factors that may result in an individual having fibromyalgia. While it was originally believed that this syndrome was largely the result of the psycho-social factors, more recent studies suggest that it may onset after a virus or illness. Physical trauma to the body, endocrine imbalances, and deficits in the production of neurotransmitters are all being studied as possible stimuli for the onset of fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia sufferers frequently experience hyper-sensitivity to certain sounds, smells, and tactile experiences and are uncomfortable in large crowds or in the midst of a lot of confusion. Prolonged exposure to overstimulation tends to exacerbate both pain and fatigue.
Overall mental health, coping mechanisms, support systems, and ability to manage stress also appear to intensify pain that is felt by fibromyalgia sufferers. Certain personality types appear more prone to develop this syndrome and individuals who tend to be more negative in their thinking experience greater levels of fibromyalgia-related pain.
Fibromyalgia is best treated by a comprehensive plan that includes pain management, cognitive and physical therapies, and stress management techniques. Fibromyalgia sufferers must learn to set boundaries that ensure that they get enough rest and moderate exercise, while learning strategies to overcome the perception of helplessness that often accompanies the syndrome.

Southwestern Steak Salad with Salsa-Spiked Dressing

2011-06-01T00:11:00.001-04:00

Yields 4 servings
   Ingredients
1 lb. flank steak
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp mild chili powder
¼ tsp salt
Nonstick cooking spray
½ red onion, diced
½ lb. mixed greens (about 6 cups)
½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 can (15-oz.) black beans, drained, well-rinsed
1 green or red bell pepper, seeded, diced
Dressing
½ cup tomato salsa
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp cumin powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

   Directions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Sprinkle the flank steak with cinnamon, chili powder and salt. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Coat with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place the steak in the skillet and reduce the heat to medium. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, turning once until the steak is lightly browned on both sides. Transfer to the oven and cook 12 minutes for medium rare, 15 to 17 minutes for medium. Transfer to a cutting board.
Place the greens, black beans, pepper, onion and cilantro in a large bowl.
Prepare the dressing: Place the salsa, lime juice, cumin, olive oil and black pepper in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Drizzle over the greens and toss until the greens are coated. Transfer the salad to a large platter.
Thinly slice the steak and transfer to platter. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Facts (per servings): calories 330, fat
13 g (sat. fat 4 g), cholesterol 53 mg, protein 31
g, carbohydrates 26 g, fiber 8 g, sodium 620 mg,
sugars 48 g

This recipe is from www.guide2diabetes.com

Insulin Time

2011-06-01T00:04:00.000-04:00

Last week, or maybe the week before, I went to my doctor for a physical needed for the adoption process. She checked my blood sugar. I had just eaten a granola bar. I didn't think with only 12 grams of sugar they would cause a problem with my blood sugar, wow was I wrong.
I admit I haven't checked my blood sugar in a long long time. I kept procrastinating ordering a new meter. I had finally ordered a new meter and supplies the week before I went to the doctor, and it arrived, thankfully, just a few days after my appointment. What I haven't told you yet is how high my blood sugar was at the doctor's office. My doctor asked her nurse to check my blood sugar with their meter and it was 264! My doctor also ordered blood tests. A few days later the nurse called to tell me my blood sugar was out of control and my doctor feels it is time for me to start insulin. INSULIN!
The nurse scheduled me for an appointment with the specialist, I go next week. I am still scared but I have been doing some research. (of course, I have!)
One of the most important things I learned was actually from a diabetes magazine I had brought home from the doctor's office. The magazine is called "Guide to Diabetes". The website is www.guide2diabetes.com. The article to which I am referring is a real life story "Insulin has been a blessing". One thing that helped me stop beating myself up about the granola bars is this quote "I thought taking insulin means you have failed, you didn't do a good job of managing diabetes, and it meant you were near the end". Further "As type 2 diabetes progresses over time, the pancreas produces less insulin even when you are doing everything right to control your sugar levels. Many people with type 2 diabetes will probably need some form of insulin replacement after eight to 10 years, says Luigi Meneghini, MD. MBA, director of the Eleanor and Joseph Kosow Diabetes Treatment Center at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami".
I'm not pushing off the blame. I need to lose weight, and thanks to well I don't know which of the new medications I'm on that has caused my appetite to disappear, but I'm grateful. I'm watching my carbs especially. For instance, we had a Memorial Day barbecue. I had 1/2 a hamburger bun, a hamburger, and a bratwurst. I didn't eat any veg but I didn't eat any chips either. Tonight we went to Steak & Shake before our parenting class. Instead of a double steakburger with a full order of fries and a shake. I had a single steakburger, I cut the meat and bun in half and doubled the meat using just 1/2 the bun, ate 1/3 order of fries and had coke zero. Later for a snack I ate 1 chocolate chip cookie made with splenda and semisweet chocolate chips (and pecans), and a few raw carrot sticks. I am down 11 pounds so far! 11!! I admit I have been feeling a little weak and shaky, but this is possibly due to my blood sugar. A fasting blood sugar is still 130, way too high. I'm hoping once I start using insulin I will feel better and maybe even start walking the dog a little further each day again. Although June is not the time to start long walks in Florida!!! In the coming week I will receive a blood sugar / food journal in the mail from the manufacturer of my new glucose meter. I'm hoping to start keeping track of my meals, and sugar levels too.

Psoriatic Arthritis: A REAL Diagnosis at last???

2011-05-06T23:44:00.000-04:00

In January I was sent to a new rheumatologist. Dr Youngblood sent me for a series of xrays, blood tests, urine tests, and frankly that was January so I'm not sure what else! I finally had my follow up appointment today. She was very nice and spent a lot of time with me. She had immediately thought what previous doctors had misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, and other miscellaneous diseases, disorders whatever, as an inflammatory arthritis. The tests were to determine what type.

The test ruled out lupus, which was another doctor's first instinct, and after tons of research mine too. But, lupus is in the inflammatory arthritis family. The tests did not determine which type of inflammatory arthritis, but confirmed the existence of general inflammatory arthritis. Including inflammation, of course, bone spurs heavily in my feet, ankles, sacroiliac joints, spine, and knuckles. The ones in my hands aren't so bad but there is also the presence of osteoarthritis. The bone spurs in my spine are creating bridges and fusing my spine together. Nothing that sounds like any fun! Apparently my elbows are showing early signs of psoriasis, which is why she thinks it is psoriatic arthritis. If it is not psoriatic arthritis, she said it is something close. She says there are too many possibilities to maybe narrow the diagnosis 100%.

Dr Youngblood prescribed new medication. Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.Sulfazine EC is also an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, I have to start taking flexeril 3 times a day for rib spasms, trust me those are no fun! I'm not sure what treatment happens for the bone spurs, but this is a start. I go back in two months.

So lets all cross our fingers (if you can) and hope first, this diagnosis is finally accurate, and, second that the treatment helps. :)

Heart Gallery & Adoption

2011-05-06T00:46:00.000-04:00

Stephen and I have always talked about fostering kids or adopting. I don't know where this desire in me comes from, except I know there are so many kids out there who are having a worse childhood than mine, and need a good home. This past Christmas I was watching the Dave Thomas Home for the Holidays special and I couldn't take it anymore. I'm 42. If we are going to do this, we better do it soon! I immediately went on the website for the Heart Gallery and found a 12 year old boy and his short story http://www.heartgallerytampabay.org/children/cody.php?gid=0 ripped open my heart. Soon, I had Stephen convinced. He's a big pushover so he didn't need much convincing. Plus, he would love a son to play video games with and teach hockey to. Next, we went to orientation. The second step is taking 10 weeks of parenting classes, these are called MAPP classes. Unfortunately, the March classes were already full so we had to wait until May, but guess what? It's MAY!! We start next Tuesday and we are so excited!
Of course we are scared, we've never had a child to be responsible for! But, one thing we are not afraid of is having a support system. I have a large extended family with my Aunt, and cousins, plus my niece & nephew. My aunt & cousins took me in when I didn't have any other family. My husband's mom and brother are pretty terrific (shhhh don't tell them I said that!), plus he has a large family of multiple aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents that live nearby. I also have my two best friends. One I've had for about 27 years, and the other about 14 years. I have absolutely no doubt that every one of our family members will embrace an adopted child as if he or she was born in our family and had grown up with us their entire lives. I'm so excited to be able to offer our kid not only ourselves but the wonderful extended families we have.
I'm currently reading Ashley Judd's book entitled "All That Is Bitter and Sweet". Her first chapter is called "Family of Chance, Family of Choice". She says "My family of choice is a colorful assortment of surrogate grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends who infuse me with love, belonging, and acceptance. My family of origin, the one into which I was born, was also brimming with love but was not a healthy family system." Lets be honest, who's family is ever a 100% healthy family system? We can not choose our family of chance it's our family of origin, we get what we get. But, we have our families of choice. We can choose to surround ourselves with love and support. I've had a friend or two over the years who I was close to, long term friends. Over time these relationships became toxic to me. Filling my life with their negativity about my marriage, my life. I made a choice. As tough as it was I ended those friendships, because it's my choice. My family of choice is supportive and loving. My family of choice does include members of my family of chance, not everyone, but I'm learning with family, not just friends it is a matter of choice.

Grandparents... the best memories

2011-05-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

My best memories are of my grandma and grandpa. I was talking to my best friend the other day about grandparents. My mother wouldn't agree with this, but she isn't really involved in my niece and nephews life. She was when my Dad was alive, but not really since he passed. Her mom doesn't either. This seems so different from when I was growing up. When I was a kid Grandpa would take us to the store to pick up a case of beer, we'd also pick up a bag of Brach's candies, and we got to make the mix! Another treat would be going to the Dairy Queen. My cousins lived in Dubuque, just over the bridge and my cousin Tracy was close to my age so I always begged for her to come stay when I did. Of course we had our moments! Tracy will tell you the truth, we'd argue, I'd go in the bedroom and lock the door. I'd lay down and fall asleep and when I woke up the door would be open :) and all would be fine.
One of our favorite things to do was to go to happy hour at the marina. Grandma and grandpa would get a beer and we'd get soda. I think there was a bowl of peanuts or something. Looking back I'm not sure what made it so magical, except maybe feeling grown-up sitting at the bar with our grandparents.
Other times grandpa might take us to "the beach". It's funny to think of that little strip of beach now. Comparing it to the beaches here in Florida it seems so small, probably dirty. But, it was quiet. No one was ever there, no sunbathing or swimming on the shores of the Mississippi under the Dubuque/East Dubuque bridge, but we walked and picked up seashells. If we were good we might get to go downtown for a hotdog. Just so you know the population of East Dubuque is less than 2,000 and the "downtown" was about 2 blocks long. The hot dogs were decadent, I am not sure, but I think the name of the bar was Mullgrew's. I could be wrong about that. There was also a pharmacy, and an Okey-Dokey grocery store. It seems so foreign now as little kids we could walk the mile into town by ourselves. I remember when I was about 5 (this was one of my Dad's favorite stories) I asked my Dad if could go to the little corner store to get some gum. He said no. Well, determined as I was I took my little purse outside and put some pretty white decorative rocks from our yard and filled it up. I then walked the couple of blocks to the store and tried to buy gum with the rocks. One of the neighbor kids, older kids who babysat, was there, took pity on me and bought the gum. Man was I in trouble. It took an incredible amount of gum to confess who bought it for me. But the thing is even at 5 it wasn't a big deal to walk to the corner store or go across the street to the park, alone. Now.... wow, times have changed!

The Lion on the Stairs

2011-05-02T22:06:00.001-04:00

I have a few memories from my early childhood years. The problem with a few of them is I'm not sure if I'm remember the event itself or the photo of the event. For instance, I remember my parents looking for me all over the neighborhood, frantic, thinking I was lost. I was upstairs in my room having a tea party. I saw them, heard them, looked out the window, but for some reason the thought to say "hey, I'm up here" wasn't something that dawned on me. I don't believe I was being malicious, just I heard them and went oh ok, and back to my business.
Another memory is one of those photo memories. We had a dog, a toy poodle. Pierre, or Lucky Pierre as my dad called him. I believe mom had other names for him as he preferred to pee on the floor in our back room rather than outside! I remember being in my white confirmation dress and Pierre being in the pictures. So, it's not really the event I remember. I remember the photo.
I wonder what a shrink would say if I told them I still remember a recurring nightmare I had when I was 5-6. You realize this was over 35 years ago, right? We had a two story house and in the dream I was on the stairs spying on my mother and her friend in the dining room. And somehow there was a lion crawling up the stairs to pounce on me, my mother oblivious to me, the lion or to my imminent danger. Talk about a prelude. My mother.
One of my earliest memories is me asking my Grandmother why my mom hated me. Mother has never been good with honesty and she's not going to like me writing this, but these are my memories. She says I was jealous of my brother. In one way I've never felt a moment of jealousy towards my brother. In another way maybe, but not in the way she means. She means that he was brought home from the hospital, became the center of attention, and I was jealous. No. On the other hand, anyone who was ever close to my family can and will tell you Brian is her favorite. To this day, he is her favorite. My dad repeatedly said "it doesn't matter what Michele does, from the moment she enters the house till the minute she leaves, it's wrong. her hair, her clothes, her friends, nothing is right". If I was jealous it was because he did everything right in her eyes (no matter what he did wrong), and I did nothing right.
Many would say my dad had a favorite, daddy's little girl. I'd have to disagree. I'd say he had to compensate. He had to play peacemaker, keep her away from me. My uncle told me one time that all parents have a child they pick on, for him it was his daughter. I don't know if this is true (whether he picked on her, or whether all parents have a kid they pick on). What that statement meant to me was her actions were visible to others, they were confirmed, not just in my head. A few years ago I realized in a way my brother needed her more. Sometimes I think parents have a six sense about this, I've seen it in other parents. They favor the weaker child. I'm very independent, I needed my mother sure. Don't we all, but not in the way my brother did. Trust me I'm not excusing this behavior, it's just something I have witnessed.
I want to say some things changed for me when I went away to college, but more after that when I moved across the country to California. One day I was on the phone, I called the house to talk to my dad and she started yelling at me. I hung up. How liberating was it to realize I was several thousand miles away, I didn't have to listen to it anymore!
I'd had other realizations in the past. Maybe the first one was in high school I was assigned a paper in lit class on mental abuse. Suddenly the remarks "you're fat (all 114 lbs of me) no boy is ever going to like you", and more became all too real, I can't tell you other comments, I don't remember others. What I remember is having a private meeting with my teacher because I didn't think I could finish the assignment. My tears, and her understanding, what a wonderful teacher. True, mother used many of dad's belt buckles, and broke enough wooden spoons she eventually bought a pine paddle and used that and plastic spoons. Trust me plastic hurts even worse.
When I was about 16 I ran away. I'm not sure exactly when. It had to be during my senior year of high school. The summer between my junior and senior year I had gone to a summer immersion Spanish program at Eckerd College. I was going to my friend Debbie's to hang out, my mom was giving me a ride. Now Debbie lived a few miles away, and she didn't really know the name of the streets and neither did I. She gave me directions like "take the second left, then turn right at the first road". I hung up the phone and my mother said "you didn't get the names of the streets" and backhanded me across the face, bruising my cheek. This was a first. Her signature move was digging her fingernails into your arms until they bled, but punching in the face was new. I was hurt and shocked but didn't run away.
Two days later I came home from babysitting. I tried to go straight to my room and avoid her but she had other plans. She stopped me and said "Debbie called, and Jordan called". I started to walk away. She called me back "I'm not through with you yet. Your father and I are getting a divorce and it's all your fault". My fault because she hit me across the face, because she was out of control. I went to my room, afraid she would come to my room I climbed out of the window and walked about a mile to the nearest pay phone. I called my best (and still best) friend to come pick me up. She did. Her parents had me call my dad at the bowling alley and tell him where I was. He picked me up, I'm not sure where we went, but we went to some little diner and talked. He said they were getting a divorce, but it wasn't my fault. He said my mom had mental issues.
I don't know what happened but they did not get a divorce.I spent the night at Debbie's. The divorce was never mentioned again.
My parents met New Years Eve, got knocked up circa Valentines Day, engaged Easter, and married Memorial Day. I think my mom blamed me for her life. She married someone she barely knew, at age 22. A life that wasn't easy, my dad drank in those early years, and she blamed me. She took it out on me. If not for me she would not have had to get married and would not have been stuck in that life. They fought, mostly about me. Eventually, after I moved out of the house, they came to be in a happy loving place, and had a happy marriage. My mother and I, we've never come to that place.
We don't speak now. In fact, my family doesn't speak to her. I've spent my entire life trying to get her to love me, to accept me, to get her approval. Eventually you have to come to the realization that this is not going to happen. I don't think I'm there yet, don't tell my husband but I think deep inside me there is a little flame of hope that refuses to go away. For him, it's simple. The last time she hurt me was the final time for him. He said "that's it! we are not doing this anymore. I am not coming home to find you in tears over her. We've done everything we could. When she was evicted from her house my mom, and I, plus our entire moving crew (plus my cousins) packed her house and moved her stuff into storage, it's never enough for her. I won't see her hurt you anymore. She will not email you, call you, or even facebook you. I'm done". So we're done... for now.

My biggest fear as I went to college was she would start picking on my brother. She had begun to before I left. My father told her if she did he would leave her. I think this may have saved my brother.

Addiction, My Brother, My Family...

2011-05-02T20:54:00.000-04:00

Funny, I don't remember a lot from my childhood. I'm assuming this is because I have blocked it out. I know we all have issues stemming from our childhoods Mine are better than some, worse than others. Some people were abused less, some more.
My actual first memory is of my brother when he was brought home from the hospital. My mother had him on the changing table in his room and as little boys do, he peed on me! Ah prelude to what follows, lol! A few years later I paid him back by accidentally burning his leg. I was about 5 and he must have been 2. I decided it was a good idea to make my parents breakfast in bed. My brother wanted to be helpful and put a paper towel over the pan. ON A GAS STOVE. The problem wasn't that I was trying to make breakfast, the problem was I talked him out of telling our parents about the third degree burn on his leg for quite a while.
Until recent years I have had a good relationship with my brother. Even now, we really don't speak, but this is not borne from a disagreement or problems between us. The separation is entirely induced by me. You see my brother is an addict. Alcoholic, drug addict, whatever you want to say. He's not into crack or heroin, more like xanax type drugs. Frankly, I miss my brother. However, I miss the brother I know, not the homeless looking addict he has become. This person is a stranger I don't want to know, and can't have in my life, it's too painful.
The addiction started in his teenage years, smoking pot. I'm not for or against pot. I've been known to partake once in a great while myself. Honestly, if you have fibromyalgia a single puff or two stops muscle spasms immediately, and helps you sleep. The problem is it can be what they call a "gateway" drug. I hate to say that. Because it's not for me. Still, I know other people who smoking pot has lead to harder drugs, and we've had a lot of issues with drugs in my extended family with drugs, both in the past and in the current tense. I don't have a problem with a little smoke once in a while, but the other stuff, it just takes control of your life and ruins it.
So my brother was brought home once by the cops, busted smoking pot. I think he had to go to counseling then. What I don't understand is why he started. Maybe it just seemed cool. My dad never abused us and he was mom's favorite, he never did anything wrong in her eyes. Bad grades, busted for pot smoking, whatever, he was still mom's golden boy. She never abused him, what did he have to escape from?
After high school graduation he attempted junior college, but it really wasn't for him. He started out young as a telemarketer in my dad's business and eventually worked his way to manager. Groomed by my dad. I know he and dad would go to lunch and Brian would have 2 or 3 beers. Mom and I begged dad to talk to him about this, as he'd go home after work and drink another 6 pack. I think dad did talk to him a few times but my dad had his own drinking demons from his own youth.
I don't remember much about those times. My mother always says I think my dad was perfect. I know he wasn't, I remember being young and being drug out of bed in our pj's to go with mom so she could drag dad out of some bar. I don't know when he got smart, and straightened out, but the point is eventually he did. My brother is almost 40 and he never has.
Brian really went off the deep end after my dad passed. I don't know if he blames himself for losing the business, or if that is just the excuse he uses. I can tell you though, the business closing wasn't his fault. The home improvement business was on it's way downhill when my dad passed, who knows the stress could have even added to my dad's stroke. This was a crucial time for my brother though. He started drinking heavily, then he started working for a guy he met in a bar who introduced him to drugs. During this time he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, given his first prescription and introduction to xanax. Sure, xanax is helpful, trust me I've been in the throes of an anxiety attack many times. But xanax isn't helpful when taken 3 or 4 at a time with alcohol! This is the addict.
Eventually he lost his family. He's not allowed to see his kids, and if they were my kids I wouldn't let him see them either. My niece doesn't remember him, he's been gone from her life since she was about 2. My nephew hates him. I can understand that. As a kid I would feel abandoned. I would feel like he made a choice, and I believe he did. I know addicts will tell me it's not a choice, it's an addiction. But don't you make a choice to get help? Doesn't a cancer patient make a choice to get help?
My mother took him to AA, she's still heavily involved in al-anon. My husband and I took him him several times. One time he had been living on the street, sleeping under bushes, eating at soup kitchens. Another time I found him on my doorstep. He asked me to take him to jail to turn himself in for a dui. He spent 3 months in the local jail. When he was released my husband and I took him in again. The rule was no drinking. The first thing he did was sneak a 6 pack of beer in the window of his bedroom. Not too much time before he started getting slightly abusive with me. Not hitting, and I don't remember specifically what he did, my husband probably does. I do remember Steve picked him up by his shirt and threw him out.
Now a days I haven't seen him in a few years. I have friends who have run into him though and they tell me he's still super skinny, and still looks like a homeless person. I wish I could say I have hope for him to realize he has a problem but I don't. One of these days I will get a phone call that he is gone.

I’m a Spoonie, are you?

2011-01-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

First I want to apologize to everyone for not writing in so long. I’ve been saving my hands for other ventures, mostly watercolor painting.

Today, thanks to Twitter, I discovered a brilliant mind. Christine Miserandino is the author of The Spoon Theory. http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory-written-by-christine-miserandino/

Daily we deal with the “but you don’t look sick” or “why can’t you?” or even worse “you’re just lazy”. Christine’s best friend asked her to explain how she feels on a daily basis. Christine thought for a while and handed her a bunch of spoons. Everyday those with illness start off with so many spoons each day. Some days we may have more spoons, some days less, but each day we start with “x” amount of limited spoons. Spoons = capabilities = tasks = energy. Today, I got up. This cost me a spoon. In fact, I didn’t get much sleep as I was awaken after only five hours. This costs me another spoon. I got up, went to the bathroom, threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and made a bowl of cereal. This cost me a spoon. I hung out with my neighbor and painted a picture, this cost me a spoon. I made dinner, another spoon. I may only have one spoon left, I’m saving it in reserve as I’ve been sick all week. After all, I don’t want to borrow from tomorrow’s spoons.

If I stay up to late watching tv I will be nauseous, and hurting, so I might lose my spoon yet.

I think I’ll look for a silver spoon ring on ebay to remind me to always count my spoons, how about you?

Technorati Tags: spoonie,@bydls,Christine Miserandino,lupus,fibromyalgia

Dazed and Confused - In the GROCERY STORE

2011-01-22T03:24:00.001-05:00

To be totally honest I’m not sure if I should be sharing this with you, or why I am, but I gotta let it out somewhere. I went to the grocery store tonight, my typical Friday night event, grocery list in hand. Remember that, grocery list in hand because it’s important. When suddenly I’m just confused. Confused about what I’m supposed to be doing. I mean in the grocery store, with the grocery list, and totally lost and confused as to what I’m supposed to be doing. I wander around for about half an hour trying to figure it out, panic starting to burble up inside of me like acid reflux.

I decide to call my husband for a rescue, mind you I’m all of a mile from my house and it’s straight down the road. But, my cell phone is in the car charging so I decide to just leave. I paid for the two measly bags worth of stuff I did manage to grab before totally losing my marbles, and maybe a few things during the mental state I can only refer to as extreme stupidity. I walked out, threw the stuff in the trunk and hesitated for a moment about driving home. But, I was feeling lucid and like I said it’s only a mile straight ahead.

I came home, left the two bags in the trunk. Opened the door to my husband asking me questions and wondering why I’m mad at him for some reason. Babe, not everything is about you. I ignored him and just crawled in bed, pulled the covers over my head and cried.

I know this is what fibrofog is all about, but damn, it doesn’t make me feel any less stupid.

Mystery Continues

2011-01-21T02:42:00.000-05:00

I went to a new rheumatologist on Wednesday, Dr. Youngblood. She seems good and bad. Bad because she doesn't believe in fibromyalgia. But, in a good way. I know that makes no sense at all. She believes that there is always an underlying reason and that doctors are too lazy to dig. I hate going to the rheumy. I mean who with fibro doesn't? Getting poked and prodded and asked "does this hurt?" Um just count the "OW"s. Who knew my ribs were so tender? or, my right hip? Apparently, not me. I don't need all my fingers and toes squeezed to see if they hurt, I told you that. Damn, the toes on my right foot still hurt! Actually, I am just finishing my second cold of the season and it's set off a massive flare so everything hurts. Back, shoulders, arms, down to my fingertips aching. Hips aching. Left back (I always say shoulder because it's the area that surrounds the shoulder blade but the doctors keep telling me this is my back not my shoulder) is just throbbing incredibly through to the front and down the left arm.
Back to the doctor. She seems thorough. She ought to, she had both feet, both hands, lower spine and t-spine all x-rayed. I swear it was at least 12 x-rays, plus the blood. Seven vials of blood. With my veins that took a while. Three hours and six prescriptions later. Granted, the prescriptions were all refills of my diabetes, thyroid, blood pressure, muscle relaxers, plus some topical thing. She thinks this is all due to some inflammatory arthritis, possibly lupus, but more likely an inflammatory arthritis. I go back in two weeks for the results. Right now though, I've got to see if a sleeping pill will help, as you know it's near impossible to sleep in this kind of pain.

I WON!!!!

2010-12-22T03:02:00.000-05:00

So a few days ago I was out walking the dog, and grabbed my mail from the box. A typical day, right?? NO! I received a letter from a return address of SSA ODAR. I almost dismissed it as junk mail. Upon further inspection I found several pages of legal jargon of which I understood few words. I thought I understood the following words though..."Fully Favorable". Now, this couldn't mean what I think it means, could it? I mean I ONLY applied 2 years ago and I haven't even had my court date yet. However, I do remember my lawyer saying something in October about asking the judge for a directed decision. Before I start assuming what this means, and jumping up and down, as obvious as the meaning seems, I decide to call my lawyer.
The lawyer's assistant confirms this does indeed mean I won, and without ever stepping inside the courtroom, yay me! Next, I conference called my husband and best friend to tell them. I could barely speak, I was crying so hard! Relief, affirmation, mostly relief.
In reading the judges ruling I kind of felt like the judge was saying "WTF are u wasting the courts time for?" and not to me. He cites my doctor's opinion, of course. And, he also cites the opinion of the medical examiner Social Security sent me to. Their own doctor "indicated that while there were some conflicting examination findings with regard to the claimant's neuropathy, the results of the nerve conduction study were compelling and highly reliable. Because Dr. Freeman reviewed all the available medical evidence of record and provided a detailed explanation with references to the evidence in the record to support his opinion, and he is a medical expert who is familiar with SSA policy and regulations, the undersigned grants significant weight to his opinion".
See, doesn't that reek of "your own freakin doctor said she is impaired, why'd you deny her in the first place???" LOL If that doesn't say it for you maybe this will... "The State agency medical consultant's (the people who read over your paperwork (or more likely DON'T read it) and deny you) physical assessments are given little weight because other medical opinions are more consistent with the record as a whole and evidence received at the hearing level shows that the claimant is more limited than determined by the State agency consultants." :) I love that. Other than the two words "fully favorable" those are my favorite words in the entire ten pages.
Don't you love getting your medical records and learning new things about yourself? For example, one of the specialists I saw said to me "what are they (as in my other regular doctors) doing for your B12 level being so low?". I said "it's low?". end of subject with that doctor. But, I did notice in all this legal mumbo jumbo of paperwork it mentions "the undersigned finds that the claimant's impairments medically equal listing 11.14 and 11.16." Of course I had no idea what this meant so I used my favorite search engine, Google, and, well, Googled it. These are listed in what they call "disability pararegs". 11.14 is for peripheral neuropathies. 11.16 is for Subacute combined cord degeneration (pernicious anemia). So nice for my doctor's to tell me about this, LMAO. I am not worried about it, it doesn't sound like anything big deal, although it is listed in the pararegs as a condition for which you can get disability, so that implies it might be something I want to mention next time I go to my doctor.Right now though, I am just to happy.
I'll have to expound on this more later as my fingers are really starting to not only ache but have bad sharp pains, and my knuckles are really swollen. I am so going to pay for this post, but to tell you I won, it is almost worth the pain.

When All Else Fails There's Always Twilight

2010-09-23T10:53:00.000-04:00

I caved. I finally made an appointment with the psychiatrist my doctor recommended three months ago. I can't turn off my brain to sleep unless I am exhausted. Other times it's not my brain, I feel like my skin is crawling or I'm uncomfortable in my own skin. I'm up and down 3, 4, 5 times. I will lay in bed with my eyes closed, sleep mask on, snuggled up to my dog (she's a living breathing teddy bear)for hours. Then I get up and watch a half hour, 45 minutes of tv, lay back down. Next time I grab a book and read for a little bit, then try again. Last night while the world slept I vacuumed the air vent for the air conditioning unit, trimmed the cat's claws, sketched two pictures, watched a couple of youtube videos on how to paint flowers, practiced those techniques. I laid down and decided I had to work on my Christmas shopping list. Then, I laid down and decided I needed a better way to keep track of our bills. I tend to forget to pay something and then get a late payment and all of the sudden we are behind, which is what we are doing right now... playing catch up.
Plus, when I'm manic like this the house is a disaster. I'm in creative mode so EVERYTHING else is... well, forget about it. The coffee table in my chick den is covered in water bottles, paints, sketch books, etc.
Another thing, I put on Twilight because it's the one movie I can sleep to. In fact, it puts me to sleep. Something about the background music just lulls me. But, then I put my Twilight on and it blocks out my brain and my fingers start twitching. Now I am up again writing this and watching my soaps. It's 11 am and I'm so exhausted, feel sick from no sleep but wondering if I should just try to stay awake till at least 6 p.m. so maybe I will get turned back around or if I should try to sleep again.

can fibromyalgia make you feel crippled?

2010-09-12T19:26:00.000-04:00

Blogger or blogspot, has a neat new utility called stats. I can see how many people have read my blog, where they live in the world, even what site they used to get here, what operating system they use, and, if they use a search engine like google, what words were searched to find my blog. Pretty, cool, huh?
My point of course is I was looking at this new plus and discovered a reader had found me through google by researching the words "can fibromyalgia make you feel crippled?". The answer is hell yes. And, if not crippled, certainly a hell of a lot older! If you have fibromyalgia I would be surprised to hear you haven't had a flare that made you feel like you were in the worst car accident of your life; aching, tender, feeling like your entire body is one giant bruise even though there is no discoloration, so stiff you can barely move, can barely keep your eyes open, if you can at all. Exhausted, but unable to sleep due to the pain.
I feel like the editor of the newspaper who wrote to the little girl "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause". Unfortunately then, the answer is "yes, fibromyalgia can make you feel crippled". Luckily, the debilitating flare will subside, it won't last long.

Still a Medical Mystery

2010-09-11T03:49:00.000-04:00

The other day I went to a new orthopedist. One who specializes in the spine and discs. He took more xrays and also looked at my MRI. He said the odd thing is the MRI shows nerve entrapment from the bulging discs in my neck on the right side, so there could be pain there, but there isn't. Yet, on the left side, which is extremely painful... neck to shoulder, back, down arm, elbow, yeah all... there is NO nerve entrapment. Nothing on either the MRI or Xrays to explain the pain. So that's still a mystery, and it's causing carpal tunnel in my left wrist.
You know when you go to the doctor and you fill out all that paperwork you have to list what is wrong with you? IE diabetes, fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, MYSTERY UNDIAGNOSED HAND AILMENT :). Yes, that is what I wrote on the form.
So, I wait. 6 or 7 weeks then I see my new rheumatologist. In the meantime, I am really looking forward to starting this aqua exercise class at the rec center by my house. Unfortunately it only goes through Sept 30th. But maybe after I will start their tai chi class. As with anything either class will require me to take it EXTREMELY SLOW. Heck, by the time I am able to complete the entire aqua class it will be over. Oh well, at least it's a start!

Early Signs of Fibromyalgia

2010-09-08T18:18:00.000-04:00

Early signs of fibromyalgia

by Dr. Deborah Bauers

Fibromyalgia has been called both a disease and a syndrome. From its earliest signs through the development and duration of its more chronic symptoms it is neither life threatening nor degenerative. Its pathology does not manifest as a true disease process and yet the chronic pain that a fibromyalgia sufferer experiences can make it a debilitating condition. Its complex set of physiological abnormalities make it a recognized health issue that can create significant pain and fatigue.

Fibromyalgia is a rheumatoid-like condition that impacts the soft tissues, tendons, and muscles of the body causing exhaustion and discomfort. One of its earliest but most conclusive signs is often recognized and identified as the presence of pressure sensitive trigger points that are quite painful when palpated. These pressure points are usually located behind the head and neck, on the shoulders, and behind the knees and elbows.

There are numerous symptoms often associated with fibromyalgia many of which can also be symptomatic of other autoimmune diseases. For this reason, a rheumatologist or physician who specializes in treating autoimmune diseases is the best healthcare professional to diagnose fibromyalgia. Before the diagnosis can be made, blood work and x-rays must be done to rule out osteoarthritis, thyroid problems, and other auto-immune diseases such as lupus, Sjrogen’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis.

Earliest symptoms, together with specific pressure points, that often suggest the onset of fibromyalgia include the following:

1. Pain in the groin

2. Difficulty climbing stairs and hills

3. Chronic sinus problems

4. Dry mouth

5. Stiffness upon waking

6. Dry eyes

7. Difficulty swallowing

8. Chronic fatigue

Numerous other symptoms may occur and become chronic as an individual struggles with fibromyalgia over time. These include:

1. Irritable bowel

2. Headaches

3. Tingling and/or numbness in the extremities

4. Depression

5. Bladder spasms

6. Difficulty concentrating

7. Memory loss

8. Dizziness

9. Sleep disturbances

Much controversy surrounds the origins and precipitating factors that may result in an individual having fibromyalgia. While it was originally believed that this syndrome was largely the result of the psycho-social factors, more recent studies suggest that it may onset after a virus or illness. Physical trauma to the body, endocrine imbalances, and deficits in the production of neurotransmitters are all being studied as possible stimuli for the onset of fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia sufferers frequently experience hyper-sensitivity to certain sounds, smells, and tactile experiences and are uncomfortable in large crowds or in the midst of a lot of confusion. Prolonged exposure to overstimulation tends to exacerbate both pain and fatigue.

Overall mental health, coping mechanisms, support systems, and ability to manage stress also appear to intensify pain that is felt by fibromyalgia sufferers. Certain personality types appear more prone to develop this syndrome and individuals who tend to be more negative in their thinking experience greater levels of fibromyalgia-related pain.

Fibromyalgia is best treated by a comprehensive plan that includes pain management, cognitive and physical therapies, and stress management techniques. Fibromyalgia sufferers must learn to set boundaries that ensure that they get enough rest and moderate exercise, while learning strategies to overcome the perception of helplessness that often accompanies the syndrome

New Blog & Giveaway

2010-09-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

I have what I hope is exciting news. I have started another blog. 1001 Recipes You Can Create with a Rotisserie Chicken. I hope you are as excited as I am.I like to cook. I like chicken. I like to make things easy... ok, I like to CHEAT. Seriously though, if I can buy an entire rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club, or my grocery store for $4.95 why shouldn't I shorten my prep list and time? Let's face it, most places these days you can buy a fresh rotisserie chicken for the same price, or less, as buying a whole chicken, or worse, boneless skinless chicken breasts.

So, this is my experiment into how many real recipes I can make using store bought rotisserie chicken. I say "real recipes" for one reason, and I don't mean to be knocking anyone, but during my research for the site I came across a cookbook that had to do with cooking using rotisserie chicken. At first, I was disappointed thinking, oh someone has already done this. As I read, though, I found quite a few of the recipes were simple. A simple recipe to me would be a chicken quesadilla. Remove the chicken from the bone, heat slightly. Put some of the chicken on a flour tortilla, cover with cheese. Fold the tortilla in half and brown in a hot pan. I'm not saying that's not delicious, because add a little salsa and you've got a winner with me any day of the week! Still, as delicious as that is, I wanted to make more substantial meals.

The first recipe you will find is my Chicken & Yellow Rice. Trust me when I say it is a huge hit, and everyone I make it for loves it. On this particular recipe I used Vigo yellow rice. Since I gave a specific ingredient I linked it to Amazon as I have friends who do not have yellow rice, Vigo or otherwise, in their grocery store. The price they have for 5 packages is reasonable, if the price wasn't reasonable I would not share it with you.

The second news I hope you will find exciting is the possibility of a giveaway! I have been contacted by the promotion team of cooking website and am hoping to be able to giveaway some prizes to my readers, wouldn't that be awesome?!

Fibro Free Life, LLC Releases the First Fibromyalgia Treatment Targeting a Main Root Cause of Fibromyalgia Syndrome | Benzinga.com

2010-09-02T19:09:00.003-04:00

****I read this several times thinking I would find the main root cause of fibromyalgia, which is why I recommended it. Come to find out this Dr. believes fibro can be seriously relieved, if not cured in 10-15 mins with a foot massage. Of course he does, he's a PODIATRIST, LOL. But seriously, wouldn't it be awesome if all of life's problems could be solved with a foot massage?? p.s. I feel it is important to note here that I absolutely HATE for my feet to be touched!

Fibro Free Life, LLC Releases the First Fibromyalgia Treatment Targeting a Main Root Cause of Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Fibromyalgia treatment protocol includes discovery of the root cause of fibromyalgia pain, and how to correct and eliminate the pain. From podiatrist Dr. Howard G. Groshell, Jr., who has successfully treated fibromyalgia pain for nearly half a century.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (PRWEB) September 2, 2010

It’s been the million dollar question plaguing sufferers for centuries, and has confused doctors to the present day: What in the world is fibromyalgia? More importantly, what is the main root cause and how do you stop the excruciating pain? Fibromyalgia Free Life, LLC releases the first fibromyalgia book to answer these questions. East Meets West From the Bottom Up, provides a podiatrist's new breakthrough discovery -- a main root cause of Fibromyalgia. In addition, he introduces the first treatment that focuses on the cause rather than symptoms, giving fibromyalgia patients the first sign of hope in the long history of the disease.

“Teamed up with Western medicine, pharmaceutical companies offer temporary fixes for each symptom that arises. But to actually treat fibromyalgia with more long-term, positive results, you have to target the root. I can show you the main cause of the pain and how to make symptoms go away and stay away,” says Dr. Howard G. Groshell, Jr., podiatrist, author, and founder of Fibromyalgia Free Life, LLC.

The book introduces Dr. Groshell’s expertise in integrating both Eastern and Western Medicine. Unlike many medical books, geared towards giving sufferers and the medical community a generic understanding of a health condition, East Meets West From the Bottom Up includes an extensive protocol that goes beyond learning about Dr. Groshell's medical findings. The book includes a thorough self-help, step-by-step protocol, giving patients the ability to correct their pain. Along with the self-help treatment for fibroymyalgia, comprising over forty years of practice and statistical data, East Meets West From the Bottom Up also offers raw, personal narratives from fibromyalgia sufferers, providing a more in-depth insight into one of the most complex syndromes in the history of medicine.

“My book breaks down fibromyalgia in a way that hasn't been done before," stated Dr. Groshell. "The heart of the book, though, belongs to the sufferers of Fibromylgia. Seek and you will find."

Los Angeles award-winning author Megan Rellahan (Edgar Hernandez POW: An American Hero) co-wrote the book with Dr. Groshell, spending the entire first year collecting data and interviewing former patients in order to present another rarity that you won't find in many other books about fibromyalgia -- longitudinal case studies. The correlation between podiatry and treating fibromyalgia is profound.

“Writing this book after reading and studying so many others was a very exciting challenge," Rellahan admits. "All the books I read on fibromyalgia seemed generally to say the same things. Times have drastically changed and I wanted to write something that was more modern, and with information that wasn’t out-dated. I'm so grateful to all the patients who were willing to dig deep within and talk about some of the more painful things they faced. For me, it was also incredible to see a now retired doctor so driven to push and get this information out there. His passion for his patients with fibromyalgia is something to admire, and his desire to shed a new light and give people hope, is the cornerstone of this book.”

For more information on East Meets West From The Bottom Up and for an up close and personal look at the future of fibromyalgia treatment, please visit:www.FibroFreeLife.com.

Panic Attacks, Anxiety, Mania, Orthopedist

2010-09-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I started feeling jittery, like my insides were shaking. I am having the same problem today, and finding it very hard to focus to write anything. Hard to have a trail of thought let alone follow the trail! I've taken my anxiety medication and am simply waiting for it to kick in. I'm not sure why this is all starting back up so bad. I do know I was pruning the bushes outside at 3 am. Yes, I know my husband thought I was nuts, and the neighbor's probably would of had me baker acted had they seen me. I can rationalize by saying at 3 am it's only 90 degrees, and there is no sun, so no sunburn, or rash. I knew at the time the effect pruning would have on my hands but I still had to do it. This episode did accomplish two things... First, you can walk up the sidewalk to our front door without being attacked, which is always nice. Second, the episode has driven me to finally make an appointment with a psychiatrist which I have been putting off for a few months. Procrastinate, who me?
I also made an appointment with an orthopedist for next Tuesday morning. I told the nurse about the bulging discs in my neck and the pain in my left shoulder down my arm. She said the discs do cause that pain so I think I am headed in the right direction. I asked my Facebook friends for doctor recommendations and someone recommended the Orthopedic Associates of West Florida. I went on their website and read all the doctor profiles. Dr Pigeon's profile reads "Minimally invasive spine and neck surgery, Adult degenerative scoliosis, Adult degenerative disc disease, Spinal fusions." Plus, he takes my insurance, so he was the obvious choice. I see him next Tuesday, and will keep you informed, wish me luck!

Not Neuropathy for sure

2010-08-25T06:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I will have to change the name of my blog. I do not have neuropathy. The nerve conduction tests were negative. Apparently the original ones I had done were too. That was a year and a half ago. Damn, I knew that neurologist I went to back then was awful. I really hated going to him because he never answered questions.Almost 2 years of my life we could have spent figuring out what the real problem was. Maybe 2 years less of suffering.
My new primary care doctor is really wonderful. Her name is Dr Brvenik. She is the kind of doctor you want to have, a real bulldog. I mean that in the best possible way. In fact, what I mean is she is the type to not settle until she finds the answer. For example, my shoulder has been giving me problems for almost 10 years. Every doctor I have told previously has brushed it off, until her. MRI shows bulging discs in my neck causing nerve pain in my shoulder down my arm, severe pain at times, just like sciatic but in shoulder down arm instead of butt down leg.
She also insisted on a full physical including pap and breast exam. Breast exam found a lump. Now, I've been through two mammograms and an ultrasound. The lump is probably just a cyst. But, she is sending me for a needle aspiration to be sure. I am 99.9% sure it is just a cyst and sure is she, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. The whole thing, having to wait over the weekend for the result of the second mammogram, set off the worst flare in my life, nothing like I have ever felt before. Excruciating pain in my arms, from the top where the shoulder joint is to my fingertips. Extreme weakness in them, and tender. Two days later the pain had narrowed down to "just" my joints. It's mostly gone now except some overall weakness from feeling so bad all week, and really bad left shoulder pain from the bulging discs.
Dr Brvenik is trying to get me in to see the rheumatologist now to be tested for lupus. The only problem she says is lupus is extremely hard to diagnose. For example, the blood test can come back false negative, and often does. I know I was checked for it at some point. Either 3 years ago or 10 years ago. And, it was negative then, but could still be positive now. I don't even know what lupus means, except I know that one of the first signs is inflammation in the knuckle area of the hands. That I've had forever, years, like 7-10 years, before the pain started. I had it so long I just thought it was some odd quirk since there was no pain.
So, Friday will be a big day for me. An appointment with the hand surgeon for a consult regarding carpal tunnel in my right hand, an appointment with the general surgeon for a consult to have the breast needle thing, and an appointment with the orthopedist for the bulging discs in my neck.
Wish me luck!!

Big Day Nerves

2010-08-20T00:26:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is a big day, guaranteed no sleep tonight. Start the morning off with a spot mammogram. If you don't know what that is it's a magnifying mammogram (I had to ask :) ), then possibly an ultrasound. My husband has to work so my best friend is taking me. Probably better, he'd keep asking "what's wrong?" and say all the absolutely wrong things. He tries, and he means well. After the mammo I will send her off to work, then off to the neurologist for my mri and emg results... more fun. I'm hoping he will have a definite positive yes or no this is neuropathy or it's not and they keep looking. From the previous neurologist I know I will need carpal tunnel surgery, but that's ok, I just don't expect it to fix everything though. That may sound pessimistic, but it's not. My reasoning is because the pain in my hands is the same in my feet and toes, and I know THAT'S not carpal tunnel, lol.
oh well, I guess I should try to lay down for a little bit.

50 Fabulous Food and Recipe Links For Diabetics

2010-08-11T13:51:00.000-04:00

A reader named Bobbie sent me a link to this article. I haven't had time yet to really delve into it, but I thought I would share anyway, it looks like there is a wealth of information.

As a nurse, you will definitely encounter patients with diabetes. In fact, according to the American Diabetes Association, over 23 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with diabetes. This doesn’t count all the people who haven’t been diagnosed or who are at risk for diabetes. Diabetics need special guidance when it comes to diet and nutrition. Luckily, the Internet has made it easy for diabetics to access healthy, delicious recipes as well as learn about their condition and the way they should eat. Here are 50 fabulous food and recipe links we’ve found around the ‘Net:

Diet and Nutrition Infromation

These websites provide general information on a proper diabetic diet. Learn about different types of diet plans that diabetics use to manage their sugar intake.

Januvia

: Merck’s Januvia website has good tips about healthy food for managing diabetes, as well as a recipe tool and favorite food analyzer. Free registration required to access some tools.

Simple Wins: Nutrition

: The Bayer website has nutrition tips, healthy cooking videos, and other good resources for diabetics.

Tudiabetes.org

: Tudiabetes.org is a great resource for anyone with diabetes, combining the wisdom of a large group of diabetics with excellent articles.

ADA: Food & Fitness

: Learn about proper nutrition for diabetics on this website of the American Diabetes Association.

MedlinePlus: Diabetic Diet

: Medline Plus’ website gives simple, easy-to-understand information about the proper diet for a diabetic person to follow.

X-Plain: Diabetic Meal Planning

: The X-Plain interactive tutorial gives you tools and information on planning healthy meals.

Accu-Chek Connect

: This page provides supportive information for diabetics who feel they need help with their eating habits.

MayoClinic.com: Reading Food Labels

: This helpful article tell diabetics how they should read food labels in order to make the right choices.

Reader’s Digest: 10 Super Foods

: This attractive slideshow features 10 foods that diabetics should incorporate into their daily diets.

10.

BD: Fast Food Guide

: BD Medical Supplies offers this extremely helpful guide to your favorite fast food restaurants from a nutritional perspective, so you can see just what you’re getting into.

11.

Foodpicker.org

: Foodpicker.org follows the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association in order to help diabetics make better food choices.

12.

Buffet Tips For Diabetics

: The National Institutes of Health offers this article to help people make the right choices when offers with a whole buffet of options.

13.

Joslin Diabetes Center

: The Joslin Diabetes Center offers great tips on keeping portions controlled, as well as other healthy eating strategies.

14.

Joslin Diabetes Center: The ABC’s of Sugar Substitutes

: With all the sugar substitutes available on the market, it’s easy to get confused. This article compares sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners.

15.

Mayo Clinic: Exchange Lists

: Learn how diabetic food exchange lists work to help you stay on the right track with your eating plan.

16.

Ready, Set, Start Counting!

: An easy-to-read guide that teaches patients how to count carbohydrates in a healthy diabetic diet.

17.

Diabetes Fact Sheet For Child Nutrition Professionals

: This article provides guidelines for food service workers who work with children that may be diabetic.

18.

MyFoodAdvisor

: The American Diabetes Association provides this excellent website with tracking tools, recipe finders

19.

WebMD: Diabetes Center

: Learn all about the basics of a healthy diet for someone with diabetes.

20.

The Exchange List System for Diabetic Meal Planning

: The University of Arkansas Family and Consumer Sciences department provides this helpful guide to using exchanges for nutritional management of diabetes.

21.

The Idaho Plate Method

: The Idaho Plate Method is used to help teach diabetics about proper portion control and correct nutrition.

22.

The DASH Plan

: The DASH Plan is designed to help people who have hypertension, or high blood pressure.

23.

Treatments For Hypoglycemia

: This web page gives examples of foods and quantities of food you should eat if your blood sugars get too low.

24.

Eating Healthy On A Budget

: This page gives you simple strategies for planning your meals without spending too much money on food.

25.

Fruits And Veggies Matter

: The CDC’s website encourages people to eat their fruits and vegetables for better health.

Recipes For Diabetics

These links will give you access to thousands upon thousands of recipes for diabetics. Some websites rely on user-generated content, so the nutritional information may not be exact.

26.

Top 20 Diabetic Recipes

: Allrecipes.com is the favorite website for millions of home cooks. On this page, view the 20 most popular diabetic-friendly recipes that have been submitted by home cooks.

27.

Recipes From MyFoodAdvisor

: This link features recipes searchable by calorie content, carbs, fat, and other nutritional data.

28.

Diabetic Gourmet

: Diabetic Gourmet Magazine has literally thousands of diabetes-inspired recipes in every category from appetizers to desserts–even breads!

29.

MayoClinic.com Diabetes Meal Plan

: Delicious recipes featured on the Mayo Clinic website included chipotle-spiced shrimp and almond-apricot biscotti.

30.

dLife

: dLife has a selection of hundreds of “diabetic-approved” recipes that you can search by carb content, main ingredient, course, and other options.

31.

Type 2 Diabetes Guide on About.com

: The Type 2 Diabetes Guide on About.com has links to several different recipes for your enjoyment.

32.

Diabetic Living

: Diabetic Living, part of the Better Homes and Gardens network, is a site that includes many tips for healthy eating and recipes that sacrifice added sugar without losing flavor.

33.

Bob’s Diabetic Recipes By Category

: Bob’s website may not be pretty, but it sure has a lot of diabetic recipes!

34.

Dave’s Garden

: Dave’s Garden is a recipe site that has 72 user-submitted diabetes-appropriate recipes.

35.

Diabetic Recipes

: Over 800 diabetic-friendly recipes are included on this website, including menus for special occasions and foods that kids will love.

36.

Kraft Good Eating, Good Living

: This free website from Kraft gives registered users access to recipes tested by Kraft nutrition experts as well as money-saving coupons and recipe videos.

37.

Meals For You

: Meals For You has been providing over 6,000 nutritionally based recipes online since 1996. You can search meals by several different categories and view nutrition data for each one.

38.

NewWellness: Crock Pot Recipes

: This website has many diabetic-friendly recipes that feature a slow cooker. This way you can start dinner in the morning and have it finished when you get home from work.

39.

CookEatShare

: CookEatShare has over 1000 recipes for people with diabetes. Watch cooking videos and share your favorites.

40.

EatingWell

: EatingWell emphasizes the fact that diabetics don’t have to exclude certain food and they don’t have to sacrifice taste. By eating fresh, wholesome ingredients, they can eat healthy and feel indulgent.

41.

ADA: Recipes

: Access many delicious recipes that are sure to keep you eating right on the ADA website.

42.

Food.com

: At Food.com, you can find over 9,000 recipes that have been tagged “diabetic” by users. These have not all been reviewed by a dietician, so they are not guaranteed to be low glycemic.

43.

ChildrenWithDiabetes.com

: Cooking for kids can be hard in and of itself, but when you have to please a diabetic child, it can be even more difficult.

44.

RecipeSource

: RecipeSource has a wide variety of recipes for diabetics, over 700, in fact. Search by keyword to find your favorites.

45.

Easy Diabetic Recipes

: This page has a lot of advertisements, but it also has links to many recipes for diabetics as well as photos of the food.

46.

Tasty Recipes For People With Diabetes and Their Families

: This 31-page free eBook from the National Institutes of Health is jam-packed with healthy recipes, many with a Latin flair.

47.

Recipe Trove: Diabetic

: Recipe Trove features three decadent desserts that diabetics can enjoy in moderation.

48.

Cooks Recipes

: Cooks Recipes features over 100 recipes for low-sugar and low-carb breads and muffins on their website.

49.

Dreamfields Pasta

: Dreamfields Pasta has resources for pasta dishes that diabetics can safely enjoy.

50.

OpenSource Food: Diabetes Diet

: This website features good links to diabetic recipes as well as tips for diabetics who are trying to eat healthier.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream...

2010-08-01T02:28:00.000-04:00

I've had the best time the past few weeks creating ice cream concoctions for my cousin who had jaw surgery. Can you imagine not being able to eat solid food for 90 days?? count me out! I went through something similar years ago when I had jaw surgery for TMJ, but I my recovery time was much shorter, even though I had a hell of a lot more swelling, and am darn irrationally jealous of that! As usual I digress
I was saying my cousin is enjoying the ice cream. Plus, she told me the cold from the ice cream is the only thing providing her any relief from the pain. She's a really tough cookie, the backbone of a family of 7 kids. She's the oldest and acted as a second mother to her younger siblings through some very tough times. It has been very hard to see the strongest person in my family so weak and in pain. I am very glad I moved home just in time to be here for her.
I found a few really great books for ice cream recipes. My favorite one is called The Perfect Scoop. The book not only provides recipes but quite a lot of detailed information. I checked it out of the library but I'm going to have to buy my own copy, it's too valuable of a book, information wise, not to if I plan to keep making ice cream, and frozen yogurt. Not to mention there is a recipe in there for some kind of frozen mojito that I think is going to require a girls night with my best friends.

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Recipe

2010-07-26T06:01:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting an ice cream maker for forever. Our grocery store, Aldi, had one last year for $20. They are offering it again this summer. My best friend bought one and is keeping it at my house ( :) ). I try to have her and our other best friend over for dinner every few weeks. Everyone can use the ego boost those two women can give someone with the fawning they do over my cooking. Last time I made chicken cordon blue burgers and home made french fries. The burgers are simple I took my basic chicken burger mixture, ground chicken, grated zucchini, and a little salt. Made patties, and put them on the George Foreman. Once they were mostly cooked I added a slice of baby swiss, and a slice of ham. I bought crusty rolls from the bakery covered them with honey mustard and a slice of fresh tomato. They were good.
I like to cook but I also realize I need to make things I can do ahead of time or are simple. Tonight's menu will include a simple iceberg lettuce wedge salad with doctored blue cheese dressing, pork chops, and pesto risotto, and strawberry shortcake ice cream. The pesto was made and frozen a few weeks ago, the blue cheese was doctored Saturday night, and the shortcake was cubed and frozen then also. I just made the ice cream, yes at 4:30 a.m. The pork chops will be simple salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and a frying pan. Risotto is easy too. Granted, I have to pull my stool up to the stove to stir it for a while, but it's simple.
Back to the ice cream maker, it is an electric one that doesn't require ice or salt. I have made chocolate, chocolate raspberry, vanilla with cherries and chocolate chunk, and now the strawberry shortcake. I have made most of them with splenda, except the chocolate. And, most of them I made for my cousin who just had jaw surgery, I haven't really eaten any myself yet. My husband tasted the strawberry shortcake ice cream before he left for work and swears it's better than sex. He, and my cousins, also swore the chocolate was the best chocolate ice cream they ever ate. Let me know if you want any of the other recipes.

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

16 oz fresh or frozen (no sugar added) strawberries
1 cup plus 1/2 cup splenda, divided
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup 2% milk
2 eggs
1 cup shortcake, cubed, then freeze

In a blender put the strawberries and 1/2 cup of the splenda. Blend to puree.In a bowl whisk 2 eggs, add splenda, cream, milk, and strawberries. My machine requires you turn it on and pour the ingredients in the spout then let the ice cream maker do it's thing for half an hour. After half an hour add the shortcake cubes. Stir the cubes in well then freeze the entire mixture to harden (ice cream comes out of the machine in a soft serve type consistency).

Finally

2010-07-26T05:37:00.000-04:00

I think I may have finally found the doctor for me. I searched for someone who was top of their class and young. Young was important. In my experience older doctors, even those in their mid forties, and up are not the go getters younger doctors are, nor are they necessarily up on current medical. My last doctor was a family practitioner but also a, oh heck what is that word??? a doctor who specializes in senior citizens. The term will come to me eventually. In the meantime, I really like this doctor, she is determined to figure this mess that is my health out. And, she's not assuming everything is linked. Like my shoulder has been giving me problems for wow about 10 years, since before I was diagnosed with fibro. But, every doctor, and me too, has always assumed the shoulder was part of the fibro.
In the next month she has me seeing a orthopedic doctor, a neurologist, a rheumatologist, a nutritionist, and a psychiatrist. Plus, a physical, and a mammogram. She wants me to have some test also, but I have to see if it will be covered for my insurance. It is the test for the genetic marker of breast cancer.
She did mention lupus, which this is not the first time I've heard a doctor say that word. I'm not losing any sleep over it. I had a few years ago and it was negative. Although, I understand from a few friends who have lupus it is not uncommon to have a negative test and still have lupus. I will have to let her know how sick I get whenever I spend any time in the sun. I rarely do so I hadn't realized how sick it made me. We went to a water park a few years ago, when I worked for Disney we had a work event one evening, it was such a blast! (not that I can do anything other than the lazy river or the shallow end of the wave pool) Anyway, I was in so much pain and fatigued afterwards. Then in the past few weeks I have been to the beach and a pool party. Both times I again got incredibly ill. I googled pain, fatigue, and sun exposure and up popped lupus. Plus I get a rash on my head, and lupus can cause swelling and pain in your joints, the first sign is in the knuckles. I am still not worrying about it. I probably sound like a hypochondriac, it's just a possible answer to this mess, I mean the RA tests are negative, 2 neurologists have said neuropathy, 2 have said not. There has got to be some definitive answers some where!

email: Post Stroke Nerve Damage

2010-07-08T07:51:00.000-04:00

I received a lovely email today from a man who I will only say his first name is Ray. I have received several emails previously, from other people, and today I wondered why I'm not sharing them with you. Ray writes:

"Hi:

I will be 60 next month and have had type 1 diabetes since 1 was 10. Up until 2 months ago my life had been fairly routine..well I had a heart attack in 1998 but fine since then. That morning was very routine.. but I passed out with no warning while turning on the TV and landed in a chair thankfully. Approximately 3 hours later I was conscious enough to know that I needed to call 911.. but I could not walk as my legs felt paralyzed. I crawled to the phone, crawled to the fridge to get some OJ while talking to the 911 operator and then had to crawl down 4 stairs and through the front hall to open the door for the paramedics.

They treated me for low blood sugar and by the time my blood sugar was up I was able to stand, although my calves felt like hard bricks. I should have gone to the hospital then, but I declined, assuming it was a blood sugar related incident.

When I went to my doctor the following week he said it could have been a mini-stroke ( a TIA ). I got a CT scan done..it showed nothing. I am still waiting for the MRI results to confirm or deny the stroke aspect.

In the meantime I have been enduring an off balance sensation when standing and I do not walk the same as I used to. A tingling,burning,and well some pain too, mainly in my back but also in my left leg and foot. I have gotten some physio and it seems to have helped somewhat. I am self employed and play trumpet in 3 bands ( well I did until this ). My back aches terribly if I try to play.

Some days are not as bad as others but I do feel frustrated and a bit inadequate as my wife looks after most things around the house now ( I can still mow the lawn on a good day but just slowly ). I still drive, work etc. but things are not the same. I feel as long as each day is marginally better that things will be okay."

I really admire Ray's positive attitude. To me, the tingling and burning sounds like neuropathy, but of course I am no expert. I have read though that 8% of stroke victims have nerve pain after a stroke, so post stroke neuropathy is not uncommon.

I understand, and I'm sure if you are reading this and suffer from a debilitating illness you do also, Ray's frustration and feeling inadequate. Being unable to manage simple tasks you used to be able to do can cause severe depression and anxiety. For me, I have quite a hard time with anything that requires my hands, and let's face it EVERYTHING requires your hands, but especially fine manipulation. Things like removing the battery case from a cell phone, removing saran wrap from the roll, jewelry clasps, opening soda bottles are simply impossible. And, I drop a heck of a lot of glasses!

As always, feel free to drop me a line at alonelydragonfly@aol.com & I will try to find some more of these emails and post them so you know you aren't alone.

Strawberry Salad Recipe

2010-07-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

This salad reminds me of a family favorite. My cousin Marlene made it for a family picnic and it became an instant hit. Her recipe had a crushed pretzel crust and no pineapple but I believe the rest is pretty similar.(oh her's wasn't in a ring mold either)

1 large package sugar free strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
10 ounce package frozen strawberries, no sugar added
16 oz can crushed pineapple in it's own juice (not syrup)
1/2 pint sour cream

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add strawberries and pineapple, include juice. Fill a ring mold with half the mixture and chill for 30 minutes. Add layer of sour cream. Pour the remaining gelatin mixture on top. Chill until firm.

8 servings

Feeling stupid

2010-07-06T08:23:00.001-04:00

I'm going to tell you this as if it happened today when in truth it happened last Thursday, although the embarrassment and stupidity I felt still lingers. Thursday morning I had an appointment with my new neurologist, a rather important appointment, thus. I live about 1.3 miles from the doctor's office and had decided to take the bus, a mode of transport I have not yet used in my 42 years of life. I could have driven my husband to work at 4 a.m. (1/2 an hour from here), or borrowed a car from my mother in law, or even asked my best friend to take me, but that all seemed silly, I mean it's only a mile for goodness sakes, and I'm a fairly independent woman, or at least I used to be.
To say I have sleep problems would be saying that the fact I have not slept yet and it is 8 a.m. is normal. This normal occurrence, for me, is especially true the night before a doctor's appointment, as I am always afraid I won't wake up in time. This particular Wednesday night / Thursday morning was no exception. About 5 a.m. I realized I may be having more problems than the normal, and should have taken a xanax earlier. By 7 a.m. I was in full on panic attack mode at the thought of taking the bus. I'm only traveling on the bus roughly 5 minutes, but how do I let the bus driver know when I want to get off? The bus is not like the subway, it doesn't stop at EVERY location. My husband tells me there is a cord to pull. Ok, I can pull a cord, but when do I pull it? He tells me after the previous stop to when I want to get off. How do I know when I'm at the stop prior to the one I want?
Truthfully, I can't believe I'm writing this down, sharing it, putting it out there for the entire world to read. I was in one of the worst panic attacks of my entire life over a bus ride. I couldn't breathe, I started vomiting. I had to call the doctor and reschedule. Like I said I still feel extremely embarrassed, stupid, and even ashamed.
To make matters more absurd, and this may surprise you, I used to be a pilot. A single engine, and multi engine pilot. Not only could I fly, I was licensed to teach OTHERS to fly.
I have an appointment with my regular doctor this Thursday. Trust me when I say I already have my best friend lined up to take me and I also have my husband lined up for a "bus lesson". Yes, a bus lesson. He will take me on the bus, we will ride it to where I need to get off for the doctor's offices, then get back on where I will catch it home. I'm terrified. The funny thing is I was sooooo excited about the bus and the new found freedom I could have (I found the route to the mall and I don't even have to change buses :) ), oh well, maybe someday! (or maybe someday I can convince my husband I do have good enough balance for a pink scooter!!)

Chicken Spread Recipe

2010-07-06T08:06:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe in a diabetes cookbook. It reminds me of a chicken spread my Mother used to make once in a while when I was growing up. However, she used a whole chicken and put the chicken in a grinder attachment to possibly her mixer, but in a grinder, nonetheless.Then, the mixture was put in a loaf pan and patted down.

Chicken Spread
1 lb ground chicken
1 small onion, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp apple juice

Saute the chicken, onion, garlic, basil, and thyme in a medium skillet over medium heat, until browned. Cool. Add salt, pepper, and apple juice. Mix well, using food processor or blender if a smoother texture is desired.Cover and chill for several hours. Serve on bread, crackers, or toast.

6 servings, 2 carbs

How to Cope with Sudden Illness or Disability by Martina Roe: Parts 6 & 7

2010-06-29T03:57:00.006-04:00

6. Try to eliminate stress from your life

As we all know stress contributes greatly to many illnesses. Stress in small dosage is useful but on a large scale can be very negative.

When our body senses danger it prepares to flee in which case our heart rate increases. If we experience such states too often our health suffers as a result. The slower our heart rate the longer our life. Breathing exercises can help us calm down influencing our heart in a positive way. Take deep slow breaths to the count of 5.

Are you breathing properly? Let’s make a test. Stand or sit straight in front of a mirror. Take one deep breath and watch yourself.

Did your shoulders move up? Then you are not breathing properly as you are breathing through your chest and not through your abdomen. Now put your hand on your abdomen and take some more breaths. Can you feel your hand move up and down? Then you are breathing correctly. Try and practise this deep breathing exercise each day for a few minutes. You will then start to adopt such breathing automatically throughout the day.

If you find it difficult to sleep then deep breathing can also help you to relax and go to sleep. Sleep is naturally very important. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day ensuring that you have at least eight hours’ sleep.The need for the length of sleep will naturally vary from individual to individual. Try to free yourself from all worries or any anger, relax the hour before going to bed with a gentle music or a book, anything which will help you go to sleep better. Do not watch television just before going to bed and if at all possible, have your bedroom television free. Just think how parents put their small children to bed. They pamper them with a bath and once they are nice and cosy in bed they read them a bedtime story or sing a lullaby. We know it works for little children but we do not apply it to ourselves.

We should try and live in harmony with everybody else. This might not always be easy. I know myself that the relations in our neighbourhood are rather tense. When I consider my family there is always an argument of one sort or another going on. The neighbours in our road always fight for parking spaces, especially during the weekends. One day our neighbour could not find a parking space so she parked her car in front of her garage but at the same time blocked an entrance to our second neighbour’s garage. He did not like it and asked her to move the car. At the end they started to argue. The arguments ended up in violence with the police having to be involved.In such arguments it is difficult to judge who is to blame because both parties are equally guilty, but the lesson to learn is not to get involved in such arguments or learn how to deal with them constructively. If you are angry with somebody take a few deep breaths and explain calmly to the person why you are angry and what you would like the person to do instead. Do not swear at anybody or accuse them of being an idiot, the response you will be getting should be less hostile. Write down on a piece of paper something similar to the following quote.

“I can express my anger, irritability or rage politely and effectively. It does not matter who with or what the issue is.” Do not forget that if you can’t do so it is likely that you are constantly increasing your blood pressure which is not good for your heart.

Our neighbour has learnt a lesson not to park in front of the other neighbour’s garage. Sometimes it is better to avoid conflictive situations even if it means an effort. In the case of our neighbour it is the inconvenience of parking her car a bit further away from her house and having to walk slightly further. But then walking is healthy; she might even be doing something for her health. Actually she is doing rather a lot of walking at the moment because she was drink driving and had her licence taken away from her for a year.

When it comes to arguments and judging people I like to become non judgemental. Our neighbour no longer lives next to us but I have remained a good friend of hers. She has supported me incredibly well when I was at my lowest and all I am doing is praising her for that. She might have some faults but then we all do, and often it is impossible to put ourselves into other people’s shoes and understand why they behave the way they do. Before I had my own children I sometimes used to see children who were really naughty, full of tantrums in the streets, and could not comprehend how their parents could let them behave in such an awful manner. But when I had my own children I finally realised that even they have their difficult moments. In such situations I would say to myself that there must be others who are judging me in the same way as I used the judge the parents of the naughty children.

New information and communication technologies are making our lives easier and especially people who are not very mobile benefit greatly from these. But there are naturally some very negative features. As well as encouraging a less healthy and more sedentary lifestyles modern technologies take the human touch away from us. Children find it more difficult to interact with each other when they spend hours on the computer and many families now are deciding to have their home computer and television free as it makes their family lives more stress free. Children might resist such idea first but later they become more creative and can interact better with their parents, siblings and friends. It might be an idea to review your use of modern technologies and possibly restrict their use, if at all possible. It is always nicer to meet your friends in person than just send e-mails to them.

I have also found that prayers can help you have a positive attitude and keep you peaceful. They work very much like hypnosis; you believe there is some higher spiritual being that is helping you overcome your problems. As a child I grew up in Prague under the communist regime. At that time you were not allowed to practise your religion and only could do so in secret. My family went to Church on Sundays, but because discussing matters was also not on the agenda under the communist regime, I never quite understood the concept of God till I was in my teens. By then the communist regime was breaking down. Since then I believed sometimes very strongly but I also, like everyone else, had my doubts at other times. When I feel better, I believe in God strongly, but when I feel ill, I can doubt his existence. Yet I know this is somehow wrong. You yourself might be going through very similar mixed feelings. But I am always assured that God will be there for me even if I doubted him that he will forgive me and be there for me even though I might occasionally doubt his existence. I once assembled some prayers and put them on a website. One energy healer said to me that the prayer page was full of energy. His comment reassured me that with good intentions you would always be surrounded by positive energy.

I pray simple prayers every day, just keeping it simple, thanking God for all the great things he gave me, teaching me to get on well with everybody else, not to bear a grudge against anybody. I have learned that God is inside each one of us, but it depends on each individual how much we actually notice him. Praying is all about making you a happier, healthier, wealthier person. It can also help you go to sleep.

It is also well known that people who worship God regularly live healthier, longer and happier lives. It is often the social contact and support from church members that contribute to this happiness in great amount. But beware of sects, who in God’s name want to create evil, they recruit people and especially those vulnerable ones will say yes. If you know the Bible well and all God’s teachings the sect member will not bother you. I remember after the fall of the communist regime the Czech sects that were until then forced to practise in secrecy, were recruiting their new members. Once my father invited them in because he did not know who these people were. When the cult associates found out that my father knew the Bible well, they left very quickly without bothering him ever again.

Learn how to breath well and practise deep breathing exercises

Relax before bedtime ensuring you get enough rest, going to bed and getting up at regular times

Learn how to live in harmony by learning how to express anger in a constructive way

Prayers can help you to live a stress free live as well as giving you hope and believe in yourself.

7. You are the maker of your own luck

Right at this moment you might be thinking that it is not in your power to improve your life in any way. Let me tell you that even if you think you have very little left there is still so much strength in you which you are not aware of and that I would like to help you discover.

The main clue to success is to start small, giving you manageable goals each day that will build on each other. Break your tasks into smaller chunks if your challenge is slightly larger. Many people make the mistake that when they have a brilliant idea they think big and want to see success overnight. I would never manage to write these strategies in just one day, I get tired quickly and have to rest but at the end I shall complete it if I write a little every day.

My son thinks he will be able to swim easily to the other side of the river. When he is in the middle, however he has to return because he is out of breath. He will manage it one day but must pursue his goal and practise swimming each day a bit further.One day his stamina will improve to make it all the way. He also wants to write series for television. But he does not realise that before aiming so high he has to have small success first then work hard for the big success. He would be much better off if he considered entering competitions of creative writing for his age group first. But at this moment he can only see fame, he cannot understand he has to work really hard to get to the top.

It is therefore important to take one step at a time. If it is an effort for you just to get out of bed and make breakfast perhaps this could be challenge number one for the rest of the week to get up by a certain time. Gradually and slowly add a few extra challenges as you go along. A the end of each day or week make a review of what you managed to achieve that you could not do previously. You could perhaps keep a diary and set yourself some targets for the day and review them later. I find keeping a diary very useful with my son. As the majority of children of his age he finds it difficult to plan his homework leaving them often till the end when there is not enough time left. The diary helps him to monitor what he has done and what he still has to do but it gives him also this essential skill of planning and organising his day so he does not spend the whole day on the computer.Keep on reviewing your tasks and challenges and make sure that you do not set yourself too tough challenges which you then feel disappointed because you have not achieved them. Rather slightly adapt your challenges and make them easier, or if your tasks were too easy, set yourself more demanding goals. And do not be a perfectionist; it does not matter if the house is not absolutely 100% clean.I have got a friend who is always so worried about things going wrong when she invites her friends for dinner that at the end she is so stressed and exhausted. Friends are there to cheer you up, not to make you feel even more awful, they will most certainly not mind if everything is not absolutely 100% perfect. Do not therefore worry about things going wrong or that anything is not perfect.

If you want to work I believe you can find a job that suits you, will be enjoyable and will give you satisfaction. Ill or disabled people often feel depressed because they feel they cannot contribute to society as much as others. Companies are often discouraged from employing people with disabilities because they fear that such people will be absent regularly and not be as efficient as others suffering loss as a result even though by law employers must not discriminate against employees with disability. There is help at hand for you as there are organisations that will help you find a job that is suitable for you with training for the appropriate job. You might also enjoy other benefits such as reduced alternative therapy treatments, or start up money packages if you think of running your own business. Explore all that is available of which you can take advantage.

As mentioned previously it is important to think small.You might feel others have got an easy life and can prosper well without having to fight an illness or disability every day. First let me assure you that even the people who appear to have no problems can be flooded with them. I know you feel like you are a victim, but it is important to think of yourself as a winner or becoming one. Do not compare yourself to others. We are all unique individuals with different experiences, values or beliefs. If your neighbour was disadvantaged like you would he or she have achieved as much as you?

You might still feel uneasy about the whole situation saying you are too ill to do any work. That is exactly how I felt not so long ago. The nature of my illness is such that I would not be able to turn up for any regular work. I have so much skill and ability yet I cannot use it even though I very much want to do something. I started to think whether I could work for myself on a self-employed basis. This would mean I could work when I feel a bit better and when I feel unwell I can just take it easy and relax. I speak and write 6 languages fluently so I could possibly do translations. Everyone around me is discouraging me because they believe it is a job that is not very financially rewarding. Yet I am not discouraged and am determined to work hard for it; most translation agencies only accept people with 3 or 4 years experience. But that does not discourage me. I am in the meantime translating adventure stories my uncle published in Czech after his journey to South America into English and this should give me some experience in translation.If I were healthy, I would naturally aim higher. It is nevertheless a great challenge for me.

Do not look for any reasons which would be stopping you from pursuing your realistic coal. People manage to find all kinds of excuses for things they have not done and should have done. As I am writing these strategies my life is certainly not straightforward. Yet I believe that tomorrow will be a better day and I will be able to continue and help great people like you achieve your dreams and be happy. I know things were tough for me and it took me a long time to finally find the right path. If I had a chance to read something similar to the 7 strategies I would have appreciated it very much and I hope that what you are reading is beginning to change your life for the better.

It is important to go only at a pace you are comfortable with. While you are patient and waiting for your dreams to materialise you are obviously doing all the right things that will help you to achieve your goal one day in the future.

In the past I watched films, where people who were involved in accidents causing them serious injuries made an incredible comeback.I always used to admire their strength and wished nothing of that nature would happen to me as I felt I would not be able to cope with it.Yet without this incredible strength such people would have no life at all.People who are blind develop all their other senses much better than we do, otherwise they would have to live in total darkness and isolation. I just wanted to show you that this incredible strength is in all of you and you have the capacity to use it to improve your life and the life of those around you. And do not forget - it is those around you who also help you enormously to pull through your difficult moments. One lady who became ill said there was not point for her to live on because she could not do what she was hoping to achieve. She just started to work in a nursery and only recently completed her course. But her family assured her that there is live for her only if she remains positive and that they are there to help her pull through it. Even though she can no longer work and has to rely on her family to help her she is happy because her family are there supporting her, she keeps herself positive and focused and is very proud of her children who learned to help their mum as much as possible.

If you think there is no such strength within you to change live for the better I am going to prove you wrong. On one sheet of paper write down all the negative aspects of your life, on another sheet reflect on the positive ones. Weigh them all up. You probably wrote more negative stuff quickly while the positive stuff only came up very slowly. Never mind, this is all about appreciating the entire positive side of your life now. The negative parts are hard, but throw the negative sheet in the bin. As you do so, imagine all these problems are locked up in the bin now and when you take the rubbish down to be collected imagine they are going with all the other rubbish into the landfill site. Every time the negative parts re-appear in your life try to imagine them going into the bin and away with the rest of the rubbish.

Let us instead concentrate on the positive now. If you only managed to write down very little let me help you to think of some more. When you are not feeling too good, it is difficult to see all the positive side of your life. But do you have a supportive family, a circle of friends, can you read, write, have access to the Internet, can you walk or have enough strength to push yourself in a wheelchair? If you have some of these you will be able to pursue your interests – perhaps studying something you enjoy, you can join like-minded people on the Internet or you can write about your problems and share your experience with others. To write about what bothers you helps and you never know your articles might be great and appear on websites for which you will earn some money. Nowadays there are so many opportunities thanks to the Internet, especially for people who are ill and disabled and cannot go to work on a daily basis. I always felt people with disabilities were so much closer to God and artistically gifted – they have the time to notice little thingsthat busy people cannot. I am sure you have heard of artists who paint with their legs or their mouth and their paintings are truly marvellous. Would they have not had their disability they would probably get on with their everyday lives and they would never have discovered this special gift in them. There is a special gift in everybody and even you can discover it and make good use of it.

If you cannot continue in your current job or cannot achieve your career ambitions help those around you who will certainly appreciate your input or expertise. Or help those who are facing similar problems like you. If you have children help them to achieve their potential. They will appreciate it greatly and it will be a consolation to you that they will do well and may not only fulfil but also eclipse your hopes and dreams. Let them, however, decide for themselves what they would like to do.

If you stick with your realistic goal you will achieve it. Also do not always listen to your prospects that have been forecasted by doctors for the development of your illness. As mentioned earlier the same illness can behave differently in various individuals. If you were forecasted that it would probably be 3 years by which time you would be in a wheelchair do not fix it in your mind. Rather try to be positive and keep walking as much and as regularly as you can. The longer you keep it up, the longer you can do it. I have heard of people who were told by their doctors that their illness was not curable; however, they even adopted a different approach to treatment than suggested by their doctor and have cured their illness even though their doctor has given them only a few years of life.

You can achieve your goals

Think small; accept that you will have some bad days. Find ways how to overcome these and say tomorrow will be a better day

Break bigger tasks into smaller chunks

Stick up with your goal – do not give up

It is now exactly a year ago since I wrote 7 Strategies how to cope with illness and disability. Since then my live has improved even though the first 6 months of this last year were the toughest of my live. I am afraid during these 6 months I have completely forgotten about these 7 Strategies and somehow never believed I would ever get better. But I did, perhaps because unconsciously I had these Strategies in my mind.

In the last couple of months I even started to work as an Invigilator, something I never dreamed I could do a year ago.And I am also thinking of helping out at my sons’ school, I could use my skills and help perhaps some students prepare for their French or German exams. I am still thinking about becoming a translator one day but I have other very exciting plans as well. I see my life as very rich; I do so many different things I could not do if I had to work every day and doing the same thing over and over again must be boring. Well a couple of years ago I thought that being unable to go to work is the worst thing that can ever happen to anybody.

It is the belief which is very important. Just try to say the following in your head, “Life is very hard, life is very hard”. Then relax, take some deep breaths and note how you feel.

Now do the same exercise again and instead of saying that life is hard, try and say something positive, such as, “I can take steps to make my life better and happier.” Now relax again, take a few deep breaths and notice how you feel.

I am sure you felt better when you kept telling yourself that you can take steps to make your life better and happier.

I hope that you found reading the “7 Strategies how to cope with illness or disability” enjoyable and useful and that over time some of these strategies if not all will help you to improve the quality of your life and make you a happier person. If you are in doubt about anything please consult your doctor, especially if you want to embark on any new exercise, diet or treatment regime. I wish you all good luck.

Good to be home

2010-06-28T15:10:00.000-04:00

I have to tell you it's good to be home. You see in March of 2008 we moved to Lakeland so I could be closer to my work. Well, to the main location (aka Disney World), MANY more job opportunities there than at the satellite location I was working at. I had been having problems with my hands for months, increasingly so, but I had every plan on getting a diagnosis, fixing the problem and continuing on with my career. By the end of May I would walk into work, be there about 15 minutes and the excruciating pains in my hands would start, so I went out on medical leave. Assuming still I would get a diagnosis, and get back to work. November of that year I was diagnosed with the neuropathy and found out I would not be able to return to work any time soon so I let Disney know right away. But now we were stuck an hour from our home, friends, and families. My husband had a job there and I was working with doctors I thought could help. They didn't.
So this year, shortly after I was dropped by my doctor, an apartment came available in the duplex next door to my cousin. I have to tell you there were times in my life we were so close. I've told you about her before. We were close as teenagers, then when I moved back from Ft. Lauderdale I lived with her and her family, so we were close then also. But life happens and we grew apart. She's lived here, in the duplex, for 10 years. In fact, 5 of my Aunt's 7 children have lived in these duplexes at one time or another.
My husband and I had been considering moving back when our lease was up in March, but we decided to opt out and move back right away so we could take advantage of the duplex being available, and so I wouldn't have to start with a new set of doctor's in Lakeland, then move in a few months and start all over yet again.
Of course, this has caused some serious financial hardship. Money is always tight without me working. But, this is something else.
I am more active here, spending time with friends and family which is wonderful. Unfortunately, between the financial stress and being more active I have been in a severe flare for about 2 weeks. Exhausted, and hurting.I only will take my vicodin for break through pain, not everyday stiffness, but I feel like I have been taking more than normal. I'm not talking 4 or 5 a day, more like a whole one at a time and taking like 2 a day. This is a lot for me. The other day I took a second one about an hour after the first one, man was my head stoned, but I got rid of the pain, for about an hour.
Shoot, this was supposed to be a happy post... MY POINT WAS.... I'M DAMN HAPPY TO BE HOME IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING!!!!!

How to Cope with Sudden Illness or Disability by Martina Roe: Part 4 & 5 of 6

2010-06-28T03:52:00.008-04:00

4. Learn how you can best help yourself feel better

Try and find out as much as you can about your particular health problem. Alternative therapies are a great way of harmonising your energy and the practitioners at alternative therapy clinics will be more than happy to advise you on which therapy would be most suited for you. The clinic might also run courses that will help you to apply some methods on your own. Naturally you will not be able to do everything. It takes practitioners of acupuncture years of study and practise before mastering the skills in their field and you would certainly not be able to apply any of the techniques on your own. You can, nevertheless, learn about acupressure or reflexology points and apply them regularly yourself. You can find out about which point corresponds to which organ in your body and which points would be more beneficial to press for you, how frequently and in which sequences.

I try to practise acupressure or reflexology on myself regularly and am quite amazed how much sensitivity or pain I can feel in the points that represent the organs of my body which are not functioning too well. I get also slightly excited that I am a bit of an expert on the subject. I feel it works because of the sensitivity of the points and I can help others to apply the same techniques. If you do not feel like pressing reflexology points on your feet you can just walk without your shoes on grass, on sandy or pebbly beach. In the past when people did not wear shoes and with no hard surfaces their feet were constantly massaged in the same way that the principles of reflexology healing work. Stepping over small stones is very beneficial because you activate and massage all the reflexology points at the same time. And there is so much more you can do to help yourself.

Learn from books or courses how you can help yourself (many local health authorities organise courses for people how to deal with any long term health condition)

Give the techniques which are recommended to relieve your particular symptom a try

Find out what works for you

Stick to the remedies or self help techniques which work best for you and be persistent (naturally follow any breaks which are recommended – for example you are always advised to have a break from herbal treatments in regular intervals).

5. Concentrate on the present, do not dwell in the past or worry about the future.

Have your caught yourself ever saying, “If this did not happen I would not get myself in the state I am in. I should have done things differently and so on?” Such claims might or might not be true, it does not really matter. What matters is that you try to ignore such thoughts because they will not help you advance in your life. You might be experiencing pain because someone has wronged you in the past. My sister keeps constantly reminding our mother how badly she brought her up and that she never had time for her, basically drawing attention to the mistakes our mother made. Some of these accusations might be true, others are not really justified but that is not important. What matters is that my sister should let go of these feelings of hurt otherwise she will always feel grudge against her mother and it will not help her advance in the relationship. In any case it is something, which happened in the past and can no longer be changed, so there is not much point trying to change it. If my sister really wanted to improve her relationship with our mother she should concentrate on ways how the relationship between them could be improved.

As a child I was sexually abused by my uncle, luckily for me he died when I was 14 years old. As I wanted to move on in my life I forgave him when he passed away, otherwise I would just live my life full of anger with images of what happened haunting me all the time. Such feelings of anger can sometimes completely dominate your life making you even ill. For your own sake it is important to let go of these ill feelings, this will naturally not be easy and you might need to seek help of a psychiatrist or a counsellor. But it is important to free yourself of any such feelings. You cannot forget but you have to forgive so you can live a happier and more fulfilling life. If you ever experience disturbing thoughts from the past you can keep saying to yourself. “What happened in the past happened, I let it go, I let it go, I let it go, I shall now put it behind me and concentrate on the present. There are good things for me to build on so I can achieve my dream one day.”

The present is the most important part of your life. Take a moment to reflect on how you feel. Can you experience the ‘here and now? Can you sit down for 5 minutes to be in a calm state concentrating on deep breaths without any thoughts spreading to your mind? Unless you practised this kind of meditation before I am sure you found this exercise difficult. Meditation techniques are very beneficial because they help us discover more who we are. That is not an easy matter in today’s extremely stressful society.

Reflect now on the thoughts, which were springing into your mind. Did you worry about your problems for which you have no answer? This is completely normal. As a result of your illness or disability you might have less power to influence matters in your life. I myself often worry what will happen to my children, or what if my illness deteriorates quickly and so on. But such worries are useless; they will only make my life more difficult and I am learning not to worry about anything that might go wrong in the future. Worrying only helps us to let our worries come alive. Mothers often worry about their children being cold or catching a cold and would not let them play with cold water. Children often feel warmer than adults and it is therefore better just to take a jumper with you rather than forcing them to wear it. The funny think is that if children catch a cold in the majority of cases it is not because they were cold or got wet (even though this might increase their chances of catching a cold). Usually a virus spreads around and everybody has it at the same time.My husband always complains about rain, yet it is his hostile attitude towards rain that makes him more uncomfortable than the rain itself. At the end of the day a bit of rain that we can feel on our bodies is only beneficial for us in the same way as walking barefoot in the wet morning grass.

I know and have accepted that I shall never live into my nineties as my grandmother did but then what does it matter. I am hypothesizing about something, which would be happening a long time away from now. Instead I rather concentrate on this very moment making sure that I am enjoying life to the full, that I give the right support and guidance to my children and that I can see them grow into responsible citizens. Even though your life is or seems to you to be much harder than anybody else’s do not imagine it to be harder. In our actions we often follow what our mind tells us to do. Make sure you give it positive commands. Do not worry about the future, sure you want to plan for it and see where you are going. It is only positive to have a dream or a challenge for your future. Your dream can, however only be achieved if you set yourself little challenges which you achieve day by day.

Do not dwell in the past

Forgive those who have wronged you

Do not worry of what could go wrong in the future – just let anxiety and worry go and allow reality to happen instead

Do not believe things will end badly.

How to Cope with Sudden Illness or Disability by Martina Roe: Part 2 & 3 of 6

2010-06-27T03:48:00.016-04:00

2. You are not alone – make most of all help and support groups

Sometimes I take a lady from the neighbourhood shopping with me. Like me she has health problems, some of them are similar to mine.I truly enjoy talking to her.

We can complain to each other about our problems, we can learn from each other how we deal with our ailments, what remedies alleviate our symptoms or which alternative therapies are helpful. We share a common problem and I know she will not be bored. We can put ourselves into each other’s shoes easily. But I know that the rest of the world including my family will not understand or be interested in what I am going through. I have therefore learnt not to bring up the subject of my illness in front of others.

This might be difficult because you might want to share your problems with your friends but you do not want to bore them with it. It’s therefore better to think of matters, which are more cheerful and positive. Or just listening to your friends will do the trick - people just love to talk and will appreciate that you listen. At the end of the day if you recount to people how hard life is treating you, they will only tell you how much harder their life is.

Rarely might you come across somebody who understands and will be willing to listen to you but apart from these rare individuals you have to find those who will like to share their own problems with you. I have a friend who has health problems but never mentioned them in front of me. As soon as I let her know that I became ill she suddenly flooded me with e-mails, how she herself was not well and how she coped with it. Her normal messages of a few lines suddenly turned into long pages. She knew I would understand and that I would not be bored.

I first thought that there was nobody else who had to suffer in the same way as I do. It was only when I got to know my friend with similar health problems, I realised, I was not alone. I learnt there were others who had to endure similar difficulties. Sometimes they manage to cope well; other times they find it harder to cope. But they can be there to support each other.

It is therefore only to your advantage to join support groups and be there for each other learning from your strength. I know of people who complain of such groups not seeing any point in them. They argue that at the end of the day they still have to come to their own homes, being unable to pay for all their bills and having to cope on their own. Support groups will naturally not solve all people’s problems, but they can help people overcome some of the unpleasant sides of life.

It is important to appreciate all the help of the professionals who organise these support groups and put people in contact. You can either ignore them or make most of them. The choice is yours. When I was coming to terms with my new situation I was given a contact of a woman’s group. When I looked at the details I could see that this group was intended for women with mental health problems. Even though I was depressed I was not suffering from long-term mental health problems. I therefore ignored this particular group. Your own family members might sometimes not approve of you joining such groups. They might feel that you will just become absorbed with your illness thinking of nothing else and making yourself even more ill by analysing what you suffer or not suffer from. Do not look for your relatives’ approval. Instead decide what works best for you. Like with everything else in life take the middle route, do not go into extremes. Enjoy the support of your like-minded friends but only to enrich your life. Do not get stuck in complaints about your misfortune.Surround yourself with people with whom you feel great, avoid people who are distracting you from achieving your goal.

Try to be yourself; do not listen to criticisms of other people. And do not compare yourself to celebrities who look ‘perfect’. They only look perfect in magazines but they have real problems of their own.

You are not on your own, there are others with similar problems you can join forces with

Use the support of others in similar position like yours to enrich each other’s lives

Use the middle route; it is OK to complain about your position in the short term, in the long-term concentrate on the positive.

Feeling sorry for yourself will take you nowhere.

3. Nurture yourself

I have a question for you to which I would like you to give me a sincere answer.

Who is the most precious person in your life, who do you value most? Give it a thought before you read on.

Your partner, your child or perhaps your parent? Was this your possible answer?

I am sure all these people mean a lot to you otherwise you would not be naming them. But there might be times when even they can let you down.The only person you can always trust is you.I know it sounds funny but you will always be in your own company. You can either cheer yourself up or make yourself miserable. But first of all you need to take care of yourself and make sure that you can keep yourself as healthy as possible.

Naturally you cannot cure your illness or disability but you can learn how to live your live to the best - that is how to relieve your symptoms in the best possible way.

There is so much you can do to help yourself feel better. We are all different and not every remedy or therapy will help everybody with the same health problem. Take for example allergies – they all work on the same principle when the body starts to defend itself against substances which are normally not harmful, yet the symptoms can be so different ranging from runny nose, itchy or weepy eyes, sneezing, rushes, eczema and digestive problems to name the few. It is therefore understandable that some remedies will work for some but not for others. A lot of people have said they tried so many remedies or therapies and nothing ever worked. Some therapies take longer to kick in and it is important to be patient and observe the changes, which are happening to your body. Often the most effective self-help techniques are the easiest ones. Think for example of the time when you try to imagine throwing all your negative thoughts and all your pain into the bin and getting rid of them. This is known as a visualisation technique and you can imagine almost anything you wish; you can let your imagination work. Imagine yourself being strong, as a leader, as someone who can make it to the top of the mountain. Or think of yourself lying on the beach, sunbathing and the sun’s energy travelling into each part of your body making you feel warm and energised. You might be amazed that by imagining it you can actually get all the benefits of it happening in real life. You could also consider autogenic training, where you will learn to relax and it might even help you go to sleep if you are experiencing problems with your sleep.

Try and find something that you enjoy, develop an interest or a hobby. You might enjoy a good story or just a cup of tea can be nicely spent just on your own. It is much easier to work hard at achieving something for which others will say well done. It is much harder accepting that because of your illness nobody will say well done for something you really wanted to achieve but could not. Nobody will praise you for coping with your illness so say it yourself each day.

“Well done for coping so well.”

Praise yourself for any little achievement of the day no matter how small. If it helps put your favourite poem on the wall or any positive quotes to remind you every time you pass that place?

Were you more positive today than yesterday? Then I would like to congratulate you. I send praise to all of you.

Learn how to exercise can help you. The problem with exercise when you are ill is that you do not feel like it because you experience too much pain, stiffness or lack of energy. But it is often exercising that helps to alleviate stiffness or muscular pain. It is important to find the right exercise for you, gentle exercise is more appropriate than anything vigorous and the rules are little and often. Be persistent; do not expect any immediate results immediately. Likewise it is important that you follow a healthy diet. You should certainly not be embarking on any drastic diets to lose weight. Some of the diets to lose weight can actually cause havoc to your health. Very often people who lose weight after dieting gain it back sooner or later. This is actually more dangerous to your health than maintaining the same weight at all times; the body has to deal with the skin constantly expanding and shrinking when people lose and gain weight too often. It is important to eat regularly. Small portions more often are healthier than big portions less frequently. It is crucial that all the food groups (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) are included in your diet.In this respect please note that diets, which only involve one of the food groups, can be very dangerous for your health. And naturally always consult your GP if you want to embark on any new diet plan.

It is important to realise that you are the person who matters most

Make yourself comfortable and do something you enjoy each day

Praise yourself for all your little achievements

Follow a healthy, well balanced diet and if possible try to do light exercise each day.

**I want to note there is something I do that often helps me sleep. This may sound silly but if I am in pain and trying to sleep I tried to find a spot on my body that does not hurt , even if it's my knee or just my ear, and concentrate on thinking of that body part. I visualize it. Give it a try, what can it hurt? (pun intended)

Sour Cream Blueberry Scones from Marlene Koch

2010-06-26T04:19:00.000-04:00

I saw a picture of these and had to share, man do they look delicious!!!

Sour Cream Blueberry Biscuits

For a bit more fiber I make these you can replace 1 cup of the all purpose flour with white whole wheat flour or to make them extra light replace 1 cup of the all purpose flour with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour. As with all biscuits it is important that once you add the milk to the flour mix that you do not overwork the dough or your biscuits will not be tender.

To make them quicker and eliminate re-rolling scraps of dough (as when making traditional round biscuits), pat the dough into a 12x4-inch rectangle, cut in half vertically, and then across five times to make 12 2x2-inch biscuits. Bake as directed.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup Splenda granulated (or sugar if you prefer)*

1 teaspoon orange zest (rind of 1 orange)

3 tablespoons shortening

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

½ cup light sour cream

3/4 cup 1% milk

1 large egg white, beaten

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick baking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, Splenda and orange zest.
3. Cut in the shortening with your hands, the tines of a fork, or a pastry knife. It is well blended when the mixture is a crumbly cornmeal like consistency. In a small bowl combine sour cream and milk. Add to flour mixture. With a spatula or wooden spoon mix just until ingredients are just moistened and form into a ball (dough will be a bit sticky).
4. Dust counter top with flour. Gently press down on dough and roll out to a ½ inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2" round biscuit cutter cut 12 biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
5. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes until tops are shiny and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

How to Cope with Sudden Illness or Disability by Martina Roe: Part 1 of 6

2010-06-26T03:48:00.001-04:00

Illness and disability might come in many forms. Some illnesses and disabilities have to be faced from birth; others are developed during people’s lifetime.

They can come on suddenly or gradually develop over many years without the person knowing about it. People are usually genetically predisposed but illnesses can also be the result of the polluted environment or the lifestyle we adopt. Coming to terms with any illness is not easy and might take a long time especially when your illness surprises you all of a sudden.

Imagine that you are happy, you life is going very well and you are very proud of all your achievements.

You have got a great family and circle of friends until one day something very unfortunate happens to you. You become ill or have an accident and you can no longer enjoy life as you used to. Suddenly everything seems to be falling apart. All kinds of scenarios may come up; you might no longer be in a position to support your family financially, you could lose your job, simply your dreams are falling apart.

This is the hardest time and naturally you will be down about it, yet with a few changes you might still be able to live your life to the full. The following easy steps should help you in the right direction.

1. Allow yourself time to come to terms with your illness

I understand fully how you feel. The whole world is upside down and you are in the middle of it believing life will never be the same again with you just being miserable fighting your illness or disability. You might lose your friends because you will no longer be able to socialize as you used to. But this is also the time to find out who your real friends are.

They will be there to support you and do anything that is in their strength. They will, however, not feel sorry for you forever and you will have to find out soon that if the only topic of conversation is your illness, with time even your kind hearted friends will lose interest. It is also important for you to judge, whether your friends are honest with you.

Even though it might not be obvious to you some of your friends could be taking advantage of you and drain you emotionally. My sister, before her marriage broke up, used to look for emotional support from her friends. Someone, who she really trusted and thought highly of, actually used to say to her things which were making her feel even more depressed and she did not realise it at that time. Once I went to see her friend too and she told me nasty things about my father that were not true, with a view to manipulate one of his decisions about my future education. I was on top of things so I just ignored it and did not think highly of my sister’s friend but she could not do it herself at that time. Later she realised how much her friend was harming her and stopped visiting her.

Thinking positively is no easy matter but it is important to be enthusiastic about life again. There are only two choices for you to make. You can stay depressed and complain about your problems till the rest of your life or you have the option of trying to make most of your life even with all your limitations. We all know that cancer patients who remain positive live longer than those who become very depressed. The same applies to any chronic illness or disability. My sister’s first husband lost his leg in an accident. He eventually drank himself to death. If he had taken a more positive approach and enjoyed the little things that remained to him, he could have still been here with us enjoying all the achievements of his daughter who is now in her twenties.

Allow yourself time to let all the negative emotions to go first, which might take time. It is good to know that there are people who you can talk to and counselling might be especially appropriate at this time. I found the help of a counsellor especially helpful at the stage of my life when I myself became ill and could no longer achieve my own goals. I was always very ambitious and performed very well at school. Everyone thought highly of me and believed I would do very well in my life. I remember people did not approve when I chose not to go to University. After I had my children, however, I studied part time with the Open University and finally got my degree. I wanted to become a teacher of modern foreign languages but unfortunately an illness stopped me from pursuing my ambitious plans. I found it very difficult to accept and even thought life was not worth living. I felt frustrated because I was not getting better; my illness was to stay forever. There is no remedy or pill. I kept asking myself why did this have to happen to me, why is life so cruel?

When I was about 10 years old my mother went with her friends to see a healer who made a diagnosis from the retina of your eyes. As a young child I was constantly ill and on antibiotics with pneumonias, ear infections, or tonsillitis. I eventually grew out of these illnesses but was always aware of them. The lady healer looked at my eyes and told my mother that I was healthy then but one day I would be ill. I never worried about these words but when I became ill I suddenly realised she was right. I could do nothing about it, I had to accept it and start a new life.

At that difficult time of my life it was really good to talk. I was aware, however, that conversations with my family and friends just became dominated by my illness and that this was no fun for them and arranged counselling. My counsellor could understand my problems better than anybody else. I could not comprehend why anything so unfortunate had to happen to me.

I never did anything wrong, to the contrary I always thought of others before I thought of myself. But my counsellor and others told me not to think like that. It is just the way life is and there is no point trying to find an answer why. The important point to realise though is that illness is not a punishment of something wrong you have done. My counsellor also told me to enjoy and appreciate the good things in my life that I still have and I always think of that because I have many great things to enjoy in my life that help me to forget the hard side of life.

The process of accepting your illness or disability can be a long one. It is absolutely normal to feel depressed as long as you are enjoying it. But you will soon start to realise that feeling sorry for yourself will get you nowhere. You still have a life that you can enjoy; you can review what your strengths are and what you can still do. Now is the time not to dwell in the past but concentrate on the things you can still do in the future. Consider all your strengths, the qualifications you have; seek the help of a career advisor who will be more than happy to help you find a suitable job you might still be able to do bearing in mind your limitations. I shall come back to your career opportunities in strategy number 7.

Take time to accept your new situation

Talk about your problems – seek help of a professional counsellor

Start to think of your strengths rather than concentrate on your weaknesses

Rethink your career opportunities.

Healthy Snacks for Diabetics

2010-06-21T15:04:00.000-04:00

Choose low in fat, low in calories:

lowfat or no sugar ice cream or yogurt
lowfat low sugar pudding
sugar free popsicles
sugar free jello
fruit with cool whip
low fat cookies like vanilla wafers, graham crackers
baked chips
pickles
raw veggies, low fat dip, salsa, low fat cream cheese

Michele's favorite veggie dip

2 cups plain yogurt
1 package dry vegetable soup mix
2 tbsp mayonnaise

Mix well, let refrigerate overnight to rehydrate the vegetables in the soup mix.

Beef Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

2010-06-18T10:29:00.002-04:00

I'm really excited to try this Indonesian favorite. Satay is usually served as an appetizer or main course both accompanied by a spicy peanut sauce.
If you freeze the steak slightly this will make slicing the meat easier. I use this trick a lot with bacon.
I think I will serve this with a jasmine or basmatic rice and a salad, if you have any other side dish ideas for this let me know.
Makes 8 skewers, 4 servings, and contains 9 carbs per serving.

Beef Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Marinade:
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp grated onion
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

4 large green onions with green tops, cut into 1" lengths.
1/3 c fat free evaporated milk
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
bamboo skewers

Cut the meat into 1/8 to 1/4 " strips (they should look like ribbons of beef). Place in a plastic bag. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add to the bag. Squeeze the air out of the bag and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, flipping once. Soak bamboo skewers in cold water while the meat is marinating.
Preheat the broiler. Drain the marinade into a small saoucepan. Thread the meat accordion style onto 8 skewers, althernating the meat strips with lengths of green onions. Broil 4 - 5 inches from the heat about 3 minutes per side, or just until the meat is no longer pink, turning once. While the meat is cooking add the milk, peanut butter, and additional pepper flakes to the reserved marinade. Simmer over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently; do not boil. Serve the peanut sauce in a small bowl for dipping the beef.

Diabetes Food Pyramid

2010-06-18T08:08:00.003-04:00

I found this food pyramid for diabetics. I am not sure how people are really supposed to eat this much food in a day, but this is what is recommended thus I will share.

Breads, grains, other starches: contains high content of carbs, B vitamins, fiber, minerals. Ie: bread, pasta, cereal, corn, beans, peas 5-8 servings per day

Vegetables: 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw = 1 serving. Contains: vitamins, minerals, very little carbs. Ie: broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, salad greens. 2-5 servings a day

Fruit: 3 - 4 ounce portions, or up to 5 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Contains: vitamins, minerals, small amount of carbs. Ie: apples, oranges, peaches, pears, melons. 2-4 servings per day

Dairy: 8 ounce servings. Contains carbs (lactose, milk sugar), calcium, minerals, vitamin D, protein.Ie: milk, soy milk, yogurt, ice cream. 2-3 servings a day

Meat: 1 ounce servings. Protein, iron, vitamins, minerals. Ie: beef, poultry, pork, fish, cheese. 8-12 ounces a day

Fats, oils, sweets: contains fats. Ie: butter, vegetable oil, sour cream. Use sparingly.

Mushroom & Bacon Risotto Recipe

2010-06-17T14:01:00.001-04:00

Before I share this recipe I want to remind you of something I am learning myself. Risotto for us diabetics should be a side dish served with protein and vegetables. I like to pair it with a leafy salad and some lean center cut pork chops simply sautéed in olive oil with salt and pepper.

2 1/4 C low sodium chicken broth
1 c chopped mushrooms (I like the gourmet mushroom blend available at Publix, or baby bella mushrooms, but you can also use regular mushrooms)
3-4 slices pancetta or regular bacon, chopped and browned
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c uncooked arborrio rice
1/4 c dry white wine (optional)
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c heavy cream

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion & garlic until tender, about 5 mins. Add the wine & simmer until absorbed by the rice. Add the broth 1/2 c at a time, maintaining a simmer so the rice absorbs the broth slowly. After 15 mins add the bacon and mushrooms. Cook another 5 minutes or until rice is tender. Add cream and parmesan, stir and heat through.

FIBROMYALGIA MYTHS: THE TRUTH ABOUT 9 COMMON MYTHS

2010-06-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

Get the facts about these nine common fibromyalgia myths. Learning all you can about fibromyalgia is the first step toward gaining control of your symptoms. Fibromyalgia is a widely misunderstood condition that causes widespread pain and fatigue. If you've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and are trying to learn all you can about the condition, you may come across some of the many common myths and misconceptions about fibromyalgia. Don't let these myths confuse you or discourage you from seeking help for your fibromyalgia symptoms. Here's a look at nine common myths about fibromyalgia and why each is wrong:

Myth 1: Most doctors don't believe fibromyalgia is a real condition.

Truth: This myth may come from a misunderstanding. Since fibromyalgia is defined by a list of symptoms, claiming that fibromyalgia isn't real is essentially saying that your symptoms aren't real. That doesn't make sense. Most doctors believe your symptoms are real. The controversy comes when deciding whether fibromyalgia is a disease process that can be reversed or cured. Most doctors believe fibromyalgia is a set of symptoms that aren't caused by an underlying disease. Most doctors believe that fibromyalgia symptoms can be managed, but there is no underlying disease to "cure." In some cases, a doctor may not be familiar with fibromyalgia. He or she can refer you to someone who knows more about the condition. Finding a compassionate doctor can be a frustrating part of living with fibromyalgia. But don't give up if you haven't found the perfect doctor. Focus on finding a doctor who is willing to listen to you and take you seriously. Finding a doctor who's an expert on fibromyalgia may not be practical, for instance, if there aren't many specialists in your area. But a doctor who's willing to learn more about fibromyalgia and listen to your concerns can be an invaluable ally.

Myth 2: Fibromyalgia damages your joints.

Truth: Though fibromyalgia pain can be severe at times, it doesn't damage your bones, joints or muscles. Some people worry that when pain worsens, it means that fibromyalgia is progressing. But that isn't the case. While increasing fibromyalgia pain can make it difficult to go about your daily activities, it isn't damaging your body.

Myth 3: You look fine, so there's nothing wrong with you.

Truth: You know this is a myth, but friends, family and coworkers who don't understand fibromyalgia may sometimes hold this belief. It can cause tension when others wonder if you're faking your pain because they think you don't look sick. Resist the urge to get angry and withdraw rather than explain how you're feeling. Open and honest communication can help others better understand fibromyalgia. Be honest about how you feel and let others know that if they have questions, you're willing to listen and explain.

Myth 4: You were diagnosed with fibromyalgia because your doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you.

Truth: Fibromyalgia is a specific diagnosis based on your symptoms, not a diagnosis you're given when there's nothing wrong with you. The American College of Rheumatology developed a set of criteria to help doctors diagnose fibromyalgia. Diagnosing fibromyalgia often takes time. Since there's no single test that can confirm you have fibromyalgia, your doctor will often run tests and procedures to rule out other conditions. Enduring repeated tests can be frustrating, but it's an important part of determining whether your symptoms are caused by fibromyalgia or something else. The results will guide your treatment.

Myth 5: Fibromyalgia causes pain. Those other symptoms you're experiencing must be caused by something else.

Truth: Fibromyalgia can cause symptoms in addition to pain. Many people with fibromyalgia also experience fatigue and difficulty sleeping. Other fibromyalgia symptoms may include headaches, sensitivity to light, dizziness, memory problems, and numbness and tingling in your arms and legs. A number of other conditions commonly accompany fibromyalgia, including irritable bowel syndrome, bladder control problems and mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

Myth 6: No treatments for fibromyalgia exist, so it's no use going to the doctor.

Truth: There's no standard treatment for fibromyalgia, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved just one drug for treating fibromyalgia. But you have many options for controlling fibromyalgia pain, including medications, lifestyle changes, and complementary and alternative treatments. Often you'll need to try a few treatments in different combinations to determine what works best.

Myth 7: On days when you're feeling good, you should try to do as much as you can since you may be unable to accomplish everything you want on other days.

Truth: Overdoing it on the good days may catch up with you. You may feel exhausted the next day and your fibromyalgia symptoms could worsen. But that doesn't mean you should keep your activity to a minimum. Doing very little could weaken your muscles and increase your pain. Cope with the good days and the not-so-good days by finding a balance. Pace yourself. Set goals for each day. Your goals should be reasonable. And they should include daily exercise and time for yourself, such as time to relax or listen to music.

Myth 8: Fibromyalgia is a life-threatening disease.

Truth: Fibromyalgia isn't fatal and it doesn't damage your body. Fibromyalgia symptoms fluctuate over time, sometimes getting worse and sometimes becoming milder. Fibromyalgia pain rarely disappears completely, but you can learn to gain some control over it.

Myth 9: You can't have a productive life with fibromyalgia.

Truth: Learning to control your fibromyalgia pain takes time. It's likely that the pain will never completely go away and you'll have to accept that your life might never be the same. But that doesn't mean your life can't be satisfying and productive.

*I want to say that like any illness how productive your life can be with any illness depends on the degree, or severity, of your personal illness. For myself, when I had fibromyalgia alone I did have a full productive life. Worked overtime, went to school for my Master's Degree, was heavily involved in the environment, shopped, went to theme parks, etc etc. But, that was my illness, my experience, I know people with fibromyalgia alone who are unable to do any of these things. Who were in a similar situation with fibromyalgia alone that I am in now, with the addition of peripheral neuropathy to my bank of illnesses.

Fibromyalgia: the Invisible Illness by Lorna Vanderhaeghe, B.Sc.

2010-06-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

Called the invisible illness because it is difficult to diagnose, fibromyalgia (FM) is a common rheumatic syndrome affecting close to sixteen million North Americans. This multi-syndrome disorder is characterized by musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and chronic aches and pains; the most common symptom is widespread muscle pain. FM comes from the Latin fibro meaning supportive tissue, myo for muscle and algia for pain. It currently accounts for 1 out of 8 of all visits to rheumatologists in the UK. Like rheumatoid arthritis, it is more common in women and affects those between the ages of 30 and 60.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and chronic aches and pains; the most common symptom is widespread muscle pain.

The pain of FM is thought to be caused by a tightening and thickening of the thin film of tissue, which holds muscles together. In order to diagnose FM physicians apply pressure to certain trigger points including the neck, rib cage, hips, knees and shoulder area to see if tenderness and pain are present. Eleven of 18 specific locations must feel tender in order for your doctor to confirm FM.

Diagnosis is difficult

Symptoms of FM are varied and may include allergies, anxiety, mental confusion, fatigue, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, dizziness, heart palpitations, dysmenorrhea, fingernail ridges, stiffness, inability to exercise, gastrointestinal disturbances, headaches, irritability to light, sound and smells, mood swings, sleep disturbances, skin tender to the touch, total body pain, aching and joint swelling. FM patients describe a feeling of extreme muscle fatigue as if they had been shovelling snow for days. The pain is so intense that it feels like the muscles are being stretched and torn. Symptoms are unique to each person, making FM difficult to diagnose. Many diagnostic tests - blood, urine, x-ray, CAT scan, magnetic resonance imaging and more - may be performed with no conclusive evidence of anything wrong. FM sufferers are often referred to psychiatrists for their symptoms. Their lives become unbearable, especially when no one takes their pain seriously. It is often difficult for family and friends to understand this shadowy disease. Causes. No one cause can be pinpointed but it is believed multiple stressors - a traumatic emotional event, stress and depressive episodes - contribute to the disorder. Nutritional deficiencies and heavy metal and chemical toxicity are also major factors. There is also thought to be a connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and FM, as often those who acquire FM have a history of relentless fatigue. Repressed emotions or a traumatic emotional or physical event and serious illness are also linked to the disorder. Physicians must peel away the causal layers of each symptom and treat each one individually in order to eliminate the disorder.

Treatments for Fibromyalgia

A healthy diet rich in organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds is of paramount importance. Total body detoxification is also important. Several methods of detoxification combined work best. Saunas help excrete toxins via the skin; internal cleansers that combine herbs and fibre will aid the removal of waste products from the colon and support the kidneys and liver. Dry brushing the skin with a soft body brush will increase circulation to the skin and enhance the lymphatic system. As well, the removal of mercury amalgam dental fillings may be required for optimal healing. The elimination of allergy-causing foods and substances should be adopted and the following nutritional supplements should be added to your treatment program.

Many of the symptoms of FM overlap with those of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The main symptom difference between the two is fatigue in CFS and muscle pain in FM. Treatments for CFS focus on the elimination of viruses that may be causing the fatigue, whereas FM treatments look at reducing the inflammatory factors that cause the pain and swelling of joints and muscles. Due to the many symptoms of FM and CFS a combination of therapies may be required to get the conditions under control.

Sleep, laughter and exercise

Let's look at how we can support the body while it is undergoing the healing process. Focus on repairing disrupted sleep patterns with the addition of valerian extract or melatonin before retiring at night to induce a restful sleep. Gentle exercise should be performed during the day to keep muscles from wasting. Exercise may include anything from just walking from the front door to the sidewalk or no-impact water walking at your local pool, to sitting in a chair lifting your legs and arms. To get more from your gentle exercise routine strap on velcro weights which you can purchase in 0.5 - 3-pound sizes.

Laughter has a soporific action; rent comedies and spend time around funny people. Laughter and exercise both increase brain serotonin levels, known for reducing pain. Sleep and gentle exercise not only help produce a good sleep state, they also enhance the functioning of the immune system. Poor sleep quality and pain go hand in hand with fibromyalgia. When one improves so does the other. Take melatonin beginning with .5 mg and increase it gradually until deep sleep is obtained without a groggy feeling the next morning (Melatonin is available only on prescription in the UK-Editor) Each person's dose is different but on average around 3 mg works effectively. Valerian also induces a relaxed, sleepy state. It is available in tablet, tincture and tea form. Choose the form you wish and take as recommended on the label.

5-HTP and St. John's wort

5-HTP and St. John's wort are effective at increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Many clinical trials have shown their effectiveness at relieving depression, and one double-blind study involving 50 fibromyalgia patients showed that 5-HTP in a dose of 100 mg three times per day improved symptoms of anxiety, muscle pain, sleep patterns and early morning stiffness. 5HTP increases serotonin levels, improving sleep and mood. St. John's wort has been proven to be a very effective herb for the treatment of depression. It also increases serotonin levels. A dose of 100 mg three times per day is effective at reducing certain symptoms of FM.

Magnesium and malic acid

Magnesium, a potent immune nutrient, is especially important for FM persons. Magnesium levels are low in most people with chronic illnesses. In healthy individuals it is found in high concentration in muscle cells, as it is required for production of ATP, the energy substance. Magnesium should be supplemented in a dose of 100 mg three times per day. Magnesium lycinate is our choice as it is very well absorbed. Studies have shown that the combination of 300 to 600 mg of magnesium per day, along with malic acid, reduce FM symptoms.

Malic acid should be added in a dose of 1200 to 2000 mg per day. It is a powerful detoxifier of aluminum and has been shown in clinical studies to reduce the pain associated with FM. Also include coenzyme Q10, 300 mg per day, and L-carnitine, 500 mg per day, as both are important in the Kreb's cycle for energy production; reducing the fatigue associated with FM.

Sterols and sterolins and FM
Chronic viral and bacterial infections are also common in persons with FM, due to the poor state of their immune systems. The plant nutrients, sterols and sterolins are very effective at modulating the immune system and reducing inflammatory responses and autoantibody reactions. Sterols and sterolins should be the basis for your FM recovery program because it will shut off the inflammatory immune factor Interleukin-6 (IL-6) that is responsible for causing pain and inflammation. Sterols and sterolins will also increase your mother hormone, DHEA, as they are precursors to pregnenolone, from which the body then makes DHEA. Many FM sufferers have found that none of the supplements they try work. There is a good reason for this. FM is made worse by the release of IL-6 and unless we turn off this powerful inflammatory immune factor everything we take is ineffective. But once we turn off IL-6 with sterols and sterolins all the other nutrients do their job. Take two capsules of Moducare three times per day on an empty stomach for six weeks. Then for maintenance take one capsule three times per day thereafter. Within weeks, many FM patients report a decrease in pain and general improvement in well-being. Combined with the other nutrients recommended above, an excellent diet, and detoxification therapies, FM will soon be only a bad memory.

Lorna Vanderhaeghe, BSc. is co-author of The Immune System Cure, (Cicco Books, UK) published in six countries and four languages. She is also author of Healthy Immunity, Scientifically Proven Natural Treatments for Conditions from A-Z, Kensington Books, USA.

Professor Bouic, Ph.D, co-author of The Immune System Cure, Cicco Books, UK believes that FM is a curable condition. "It requires a person to take responsibility for their own healing, seek the right professional help and therapies, and transform their attitude towards the illness from a curse to an incredible opportunity for growth and self-transformation". No small task, but that is what you require to heal. He says that since there are multiple causes to this illness, there are multiple cures. "What works for one person may not work for another due to iochemical individuality. Do not give up; the most important gift is the power of faith. Faith in the healing process and faith in oneself to heal."

Cucumber, Sweet Onion, and Pomegranate Salad

2010-06-16T21:31:00.001-04:00

A few years ago I was lucky enough to attend a luncheon cooked by the fabulous Food Network star Cat Cora. I have made this salad a few times, or just the dressing alone with my own salad blend (I tend to favor fruit and nuts in my salads), and everyone always loves it.

Cucumber, Sweet Onion, and Pomegranate Salad

1 large cucumber, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 small Vidalia sweet onion, peeled, halved, and sliced thinly into half moons

2 tbsp torn mint leaves

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

1/2 c pomegranate vinaigrette (see recipe below)

To prepare the salad toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Toss once more and serve.

Cat's recipe doesn't call for lettuce of any kind but I use a spring salad mix with this.

Pomegranate Vinaigrette

1 C pomegranate juice (I use POM brand, you can make some with the leftover pomegranate seeds if you are ambitious, put them in the blender, then strain)

1/2 c olive oil

1/2 c red wine vinegar

1 shallot, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium blowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Carb Counting

2010-06-16T01:55:00.001-04:00

Last week I started to see a new doctor here in Largo (by the way we moved!). The first thing she did was order blood tests to check my blood sugar and thyroid levels, when the results came back my glucose was high, 139 fasting! A rate which should ideally be 99. Now you probably think I've been sitting here eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's every night or a bag of bite size snickers, I wish! No what I have been doing is eating a lot of carbs. Let's face it, moving cost around $2500 which leaves us flat broke. When you are broke what is the first thing that gets cut from the grocery list? The fresh veggies. Potatoes are a heck of a lot cheaper, I know, I'm Irish! Just kidding for you other Irish peoples who may find that offensive, but really I am, Irish, sort of, I think, well that's a conversation for a whole different time. My husband is also a meat and potatoes man. I prefer chicken breast while he prefers beef and pork. I do admit he has been expanding his range lately, and losing about 30 lbs. I'd like to digress further to tell you how jealous I am that he has done nothing to lose this weight, not worked out one second of one day, just eating what I cook him instead of fast food or truck stop junk. I am very proud him for one, trying new things, two liking new foods, and losing the weight. He now weighs the least he has since I have known him. Granted. I have lost about 25 lbs myself but it has taken a few years and I bounce up and down.
Back to the blood sugar / carb problem. I have decided to do carb counting. Today I checked out cookbooks for diabetics at my local library.
Carb counting is a meal planning approach that can offer a lot of flexibility. This approach is based on the main influencer of blood glucose - grams of carbohydrate in foods.
Carbohydrates are found in starches and sugars. Foods that contain carbs include:

breads, crackers, and cereals
pasta, rice, and grains
vegetables
milk and yogurt
fruit and juice
sugar, honey, syrup, and molasses

ALL SUGARS ARE CARBS. Plain and simple. I find it important to notate that I eat a lot of plain yogurt. When I look at the Nutrition Facts label sugar is listed. This sugar is in the lactose from the milk the yogurt is made with. This does not matter because ALL carbohydrates turn into blood glucose sooner or later. The sources of the carbs are less important than the total amount of carbs.
In my meal planning I am going to follow the example I found in a cookbook called 1,001 Delicious Recipes for People with Diabetes until I can see a dietitian this fall who will tailor this specifically to my needs.
My example:
Breakfast: 60 gm carbs,
A.M. Snack: 15 gm carbs
Lunch: 45 gm carbs
P.M. Snack: 15 gm carbs
Dinner: 55 gm carbs
Bedtime: 15 gm carbs

I see several problems to overcome. First, I don't eat that much. About two months ago when all the drama happened with the neurologist my Aunt pointed out to me that I do not eat enough, which shuts down the metabolism. I made every attempt to change this. I ate 5 times a day, even if a "meal" was plain yogurt with berries. What I am going to say next sounds extremely lame.... it was a lot of work to eat that often!! I felt like I was ALWAYS eating! Needless to say I didn't stick with it and went back to my old non eating ways. To top it off I cut veggies from the grocery list to save money. This past week we went to the grocery store and spent almost $100. I bought $8 in shrimp, no other meat (I bought plenty on sale the previous week), no soda (Coke Zero), and no pet food. Mostly, fresh veggies and some fruit.
I'm hoping someone will start this carb counting journey with me, so if you are out there and want to join me on this venture email me!
Off now for a "bedtime snack" of plain yogurt and fresh berries with splenda.

Here is an excellent carb counting website. www.carb-counter.net

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day vs. Neuropathy Awareness Week

2010-05-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

Last week I was trying hard to figure something out to write about Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, a day that has been very important to me for a long time. But, I couldn't come up with anything to write, call it a loss of words, writer's block, whatever you want, I was frozen. The truth is FM Awareness Day was a big deal to me, every year I would hand out purple ribbons, purple lollipops, and awareness literature to my coworkers on May 12. This year it didn't seem as important because I don't have coworkers anymore. It's funny to me that some people still see me as the fibro girl, and still don't believe fibro is real, and worse think that I'm home because of this "fake" illness. I'd really like to shout at them until they understand that the fibro for me anymore is a non factor. It's a minor factor in my life, in my health, it's not why I'm home.I'd like to remind them that I worked my butt off for years and years with fibro, yes, I missed some when flares hit, but tha was only every few months, most of the time I grinned and beared it. Smiled right through the pain.
Until my hands went on the fritz. This neuropathy is a bitch. I am repeating myself I know, but I will continue to do so until people hear what I'm saying, BELIEVE ME, and stop judging things they don't understand. I went from typing 8-10 hours sometimes 12 a day. Now this little blurb is causing sharp pains in my hands, inflammation will come next, numbness, intense pain, I wonder, is this the reason fibromyalgia gets an awareness day and neuropathy gets an entire week?

Muscle Spasms in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

2010-04-10T01:41:00.000-04:00

I found this article the other day and thought it was very interesting, thus I share. I already take B-12 and iron, next to add on my list, calcium, and malic acid or magnesium. I tried TSH many years ago as I heard it was good for fibromyalgia, but I had a bad reaction to it.

Muscle Spasms in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
by Adrienne Dellwo

Muscle spasms are a source of considerable pain in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome -- our muscles clench and just won't relax, sometimes in spite of multiple treatments.

I learned something fascinating about muscle contraction recently. It seems counter-intuitive, but it actually takes more energy for a muscle to relax than to contract. In fact, it takes twice as much. Weird, eh? Here's how it works:
When a muscle contracts, small pouches in the cells release calcium.
For the muscle to relax, the cell needs to pump the calcium back into the pouch.
When energy is low, the cell can't perform that job and the muscle stays contracted.

More and more, researchers are looking at how our cells and the mitochondria within them function to uncover what's going on in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. It's becoming more accepted that we've got dysfunction there, so that helps clarify why our muscles refuse to unclench.

I almost always have muscles in spasm. For the past several weeks, my neck muscles have been taut, hard and painful. I've had some temporary relief from acupuncture and cupping, but very little help from massage, heat, ice, stretching, topical muscle creams, etc. Once I learned about the connection to low cellular energy, I started taking more of the supplements that can boost it, and wouldn't you know -- on the days that I've taken more, the muscles have been more relaxed. Since I'm not taking maximum dosages of any, I'm now planning to increase them permanently.

According to some research, supplements that can increase cellular energy and mitochondrial function include:
B-12
Carnitine
CoQ10
D-ribose
Magnesium
NADH

Dirty Banana

2010-04-06T03:23:00.000-04:00

We discovered a new drink at The Sandals Regency La Toc in St.Lucia called "The Dirty Banana".In a blender combine:
1 banana
Kahlua
milk
rum (dark or light, doesn't matter)
coconut cream (in St. Lucia this is apparently readily available in the grocery stores, according to our bartender. In the US try Pina Colada mix)
ice
now blend well. Ask for it or try it at home, remember to ask for it EXTRA DIRTY!

one time I asked for a Dirty Banana the bartender made it with Bailey's Irish Cream, I discovered later he slipped me a BBC, a Baileys Banana Colada instead, but it was good too!

Great Drink - Bailey's Banana Colada (bbc)Ingredients:

1 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
1 oz. Rum (Preferably Dark Rum)
1 oz. Banana Liqueur
1 Banana
3 oz. Pina Colada Mix

Instructions: Put banana and liqueur into blender until it is a thick paste. Add Bailey's Irish cream, pina colada mix and rum. Blend well then add 1 cup of ice and blend again until smooth.

St Lucia

2010-04-06T00:15:00.005-04:00

I have to tell you the Sandals Regency in St Lucia was amazing. The resort parts of the island, and the water beautiful. The Diamond Waterfall, gorgeous.
Wednesday we left home before the crack of dawn. Our flight departed at 7:15 to Miami and we were required to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight. We were glad we complied when we saw the long line not only at security, but to check our bags also. Luckily we didn't have to pay any of the ridiculous checked bag fees going internationally. My best friend and cousin Kim were happy I came through with my promise to make my sugar free banana nut muffins.
We arrived at the resort mid afternoon to be ushered into an office type room. They gave us each a glass of this really bad champagne, and explained a few things to us. One weird thing is you can not pay for items in the gift shops at the resort with cash or credit only charge to your room. And, you have to put a credit card on file on which they keep a $600 deposit on for incidentals.Deb and I went to our room, unpacked, and showered to go for dinner. We got dressed up and went to the italian restaurant called Armando's. They had a terrific antipasto bar with a wonderful basil pesto salad dressing that I must figure out how to make.Deb had the pork which came with a squash risotto, and I had the steak which came with gnocchi. Her pork and my gnocchi were terrible, pork was sliced then grilled so it was dried out. Her risotto and my steak were wonderful. I was full on just the salad and steak alone. We ordered panacotta which was supposed to come in a strawberry margarita soup, but did not. The panacotta itself was about the size and shape of 1/2 an egg, with spots of rubbery strawberry gel on the plate. We also ordered the cannoli which had a chocolate filling. The filling was very yummy, but the cannoli shell itself was a little chewy instead of crunchy like we have here. After dinner we met my cousin's and their friends at The Cricketeer Pub for the separate bachelor and bachelorette parties.

that's me!!

At the Cricketeer we discovered a drink called "The Dirty Banana" which was delicious, Deb and I drank a few a day our entire time there! For the bachelorette party we decided to forgo clubbing, due to the long day and to instead hang out downstairs and listen to the live band. We all told embarrassing stories about Mindy, and played a great game of "I never". Everyone loved the gift bags, and prizes I made. I think Deb and I were asleep by 11.
Thursday Debbie and I woke early, had breakfast at The Pavillion then laid by the pool.I had fresh mango at The Pavillion with a petite croissant for breakfast every morning, the mango was fantastic, I couldn't get enough! In fact for lunch I had more if there was, with a salad and vinagrette dressing, YUM. Let me tell you, my best friend is a skinny girl, dang she can eat! Deb is hungry every few hours, I have little appetite. Don't ask me how I gained almost 10 lbs on the trip, I was sure I actually lost weight until I got on the scale. Thursday afternoon I napped then Deb and I were off to the wedding. The wedding was on the beach and so beautiful!!! Mindy was a gorgeous bride, and her new husband very handsome. The reception was on the lawn overlooking the beach. They even had a calypso band! The bartenders and servers kept us completely entertained. I took my chocolate dessert back to the room after the reception and checked my blood sugar level before eating it. The dessert had a vanilla bottom and a chocolate mousse top (about the size of a large marshmallow). I didn't care for the bottom and didn't want that much sugar anyway so I just ate the mousse which was delicious.

Mindy & Jared Me, Mindy, & Deb my cousins, Kim & Mindy

Did I mention how wonderful the staff was at the resort? Thursday morning when Deb and I were at the pool I asked a worker where the nearest market was so I could buy some coke zero. He said "we have diet coke". I explained something in diet coke causes me to throw up, and I can't drink regular coke because I am diabetic. He asked for our room number and said he'd find me some, no problem. True to his word a few hours later he knocked on our door with 5 or 6 bottles of coke zero in his hands. I thanked him and he said no problem, he just ran into Castries to the supermarket. I tried to pay him for them, but he wouldn't take my money. All I can say is "Thank you Dexter!!!!".
Friday morning Deb and I met our group at The Pavillion for breakfast before all heading off on The Soufriere Adventure Cruise. A van picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and took us to the marina. The crew was fantastic. We enjoyed a leisurely cruise around the island. We took another van in tour of the island itself to The Diamond Waterfall. The waterfall and short, 15 minute hike, was beautiful. I twisted my knee somehow on the boat, I think, and didn't think I was going to make the hike but I took it slow and just made it. I knew my knee was done though so when we got to the volcano I chose to stay in the van rather than walking back down the mountain with everyone else. After the volcano we went to lunch. I ate some salad with clear dressing, but was afraid of trying anything else. I am allergic to black pepper so I had to be very careful. Finally the van took us back to the marina where we went back on the catamaran. Once back on board and out to sea we stopped for some snorkeling, which I absolutely fell in love with! That night the resort held a street parade which included a steel drum band and lots of food. Deb tried the oxtail but I stuck to shrimp cocktail and tossed salad.
Saturday, we met our crew at Armando's for breakfast were I broke my tradition and had a slice of french toast and a slice of ham. It was yummy!!! We took a taxi van into Castries to the 100 year old Castries market. The market was terrific. My knee was killing me, I was in tears a few times from the pain, but I ignored it. Stupid, I know but it was the last day of a once in a lifetime vacation, I didn't want to miss out.Most of the booths at the market had the same things in them, similar prices. You can get baskets of fresh spices at good prices, button up Hawaiian style men's shirts for about $15 each, beautiful women's wraps that can be worn as dresses, and cheap t-shirts. Anything wood carved was more expensive, and not necessarily made in St Lucia! I was about to buy a wooden motorcycle for my husband when I noticed the box (with a picture of the motorcycle on it) said "Made in China", so I cancelled my purchase. The gang all had lunch at The Pavillion again, then back to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. That night Deb and I went back to Armando's. She had penne puttanesca with chicken, I had the steak again, but this time requested the squash risotto.
I'd like to be able to say all my worries were for naught, but they weren't. But, I planned, I brought wraps, and braces. I planned rest periods. I came home with 2 swollen ankles, a swollen knee, and back of thigh, 2 swollen hands, and a terrible flare, but damn, it was worth it!

Vacation Planning

2010-03-30T06:13:00.000-04:00

I'm a planner, frankly I'm a little obsessive, especially when it comes to vacations. For example, when I went to New York with my friend, Aleta, we made a list of where we wanted to go and mapped it out. That way we could see things that were in the same area on the same day.And, yes, we had a time schedule, a rough one, how else to fit everything we wanted to see in such a short amount of time? Makes sense, right? My husband is the opposite, he doesn't understand why I can't go with the flow.
As usual, I digress. I am leaving in approximately 24 hours to go to St. Lucia for my cousin's wedding. I can honestly say I do not have everything timed out. I have a rough idea of what we are doing. Arrive Wednesday afternoon, hopefully nap, then dinner, and then the bachelorette party.
My biggest worry with this trip has been a flare. Wednesday alone we leave at 4:30 a.m. for the airport, international flight = arrive 2 hours before the flight, right? We arrive St. Lucia at 1:30 their time. Grab our bags, hopefully don't get questioned by the customs agent for the fur lined cuffs or edible panties in my suitcase (gag gifts for the party, I SWEAR). Then find the Sandals desk and take a hour and a half ride to the resort. I'm guessing that should put us to our resort by 3:30. Hopefully this will mean time for a short nap, as my best friend has to take a quiz for school online at 7:00 p.m. Then, like I said dinner, and bachelorette party. What I'm trying to say is, it's going to be an extremely long day.
I've been trying to prepare ahead of time so I will be less stressed at the last minute. My suitcase, and I mean this truly, has been packed for a month. Hey, I bought some new clothes and felt it was the safest place to avoid pet hair :). I have one entire suitcase of stuff for the party, gift bags, prizes, etc etc. Today I whipped some of my sugar free banana nut muffins together for the girls. Two of my cousins will be on the same flight as my best friend and I so I promised them all homemade banana nut muffins for the early morning flight. If you haven't tried my muffin recipe yet, you ought to. Seriously it's the easiest thing to make. I have a kitchen aid stand mixer. I dump the ingredients in it one at a time and it does the rest. Therefore, it's incredibly easy, and not taxing on me at all.
I think the most important things you can do to help yourself if you have a chronic illness and are going on a trip is planning.

Make a list of what to pack. If you aren't going to wear it between now and the trip. Put it in your bag and check it off your list.
Once you have a list of what to pack, you can make a second list of things you need. For instance, I needed batteries, pantyhose, travel size containers.
Make up your containers, and mark them. Put them in a ditty bag or a ziplock bag.
A week before check all of your prescriptions. Make sure you have enough, if not call for refills. If you have new bottles of medications then, and don't need them until the trip, pack them in your carry on.
Make your carry on easy. I am checking my bags, except for a backpack with wheels. The backpack carries my medications, my cameras, my snacks, and even my purse.
Pack some healthy snacks, especially if you are diabetic. Unless you have been to the location before you really won't know what you will encounter food wise. I have some trail mix packed, and my best friend is bringing almonds. Both low fat, low sugar, low carb treats.
Plan rest. I know I have to nap on Wednesday when we arrive, it's imperative. I know Thursday the wedding is at 4 which gives me all day to sleep and lay by the pool. Friday is a tour. Saturday is another part rest, part fun day.
Enjoy yourself. You now you are going to be overdoing it. Seriously, it may as well be worth it!

10 Things You May Not Know About Diabetes From the Joslin Diabetes Center

2010-03-26T01:17:00.000-04:00

I talked to my aunt today (who is really a wonderful lady!) about my diabetes. She is a nurse. I do not know how I didn't know this previously but she used to work at a diabetes center and was in charge of patient education. I was explaining I need help with my diet, not diet as in dieting, as in what to eat based on the diabetes and my likes and dislikes. I also told her what the neurologist had said about me eating too much, without asking how much I eat, or what I eat, and about him saying to "stop eating". She said that wouldn't be good for you either. I told her what I eat in a typical day, she said that I actually probably don't eat enough. She said that may sound crazy, it did to her when a doctor suggested the same to her, but if you eat too little it really messes with your metabolism. She suggested a website by The Joslin Diabetes Center, www.joslin.org.

1. About one third of all people with diabetes do not know they have the disease.

2. Type 2 diabetes often does not have any symptoms.

3. Only about ten percent of all people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.

4. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented with moderate weight loss (10-15 pounds) and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (such as brisk walking) each day.

5. The meal plan for a patient with diabetes isn’t very different than what is recommended for healthy people.

6. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults.

7. People with diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease than someone without diabetes

8. Good control of diabetes significantly reduces the risk of developing complications and prevents complications from getting worse.

9. Bariatric surgery can reduce the symptoms of diabetes in obese people.

10. The indirect national cost of diabetes in 2007 was 174 billion dollars.

Blood Sugar Log

2010-03-25T06:27:00.001-04:00

I've been looking all night for a blood sugar log or program, something for my Sprint Samsung Instinct S30. I didn't find anything compatible let alone free. So I got some help with the typing and made one in Excel. Here is a snapshot:

On the side there is plenty of room to write notes about pain levels, exercise, whatever. My plan with this is to keep better track of not only my blood sugar, but how certain foods, meals affect my blood sugar. Plus, I can keep track of my pain levels. For instance, I wrote "drove to grocery store, pain in right hand". Today, and really the past few days I need to make a note about severe, premenstrual sciatic pain. This seems to be getting worse every month. Intense pain from my hip through my lower back, left buttock, down my leg, through my knee joint, through my ankle (which my ankle is seriously messed up on it's own), right down to my toes. Unfortunately I sent the ibuprofen to work with my husband. I have read somethings tonight that are a little concerning, it seems the biggest cause of this is endometriosis, when the sciatica coincides with a menstrual cycle. UGH this means a visit to the chick doctor, blah, lol. I'm a little worried about this bout of sciatica being just 6 days before my vacation. But, my point IS I will have it noted on my spreadsheet, a printable spread sheet that the doctor can see about what I eat, how my blood sugar levels are, and even where my pain levels are and what sets off the pain if anything. OF COURSE my columns are pink, but isn't that to be expected. Further, anything that sets off my blood sugar is highlighted yellow. You can see easily I had chicken breast with white rice, slivered almonds, and a spicy mango sauce (which is out of this world) and my blood sugar was up to around 186. I may try it again, but with brown rice, and a little less of the sauce, maybe some green onions. I love green onions, so did my Grandma. Whenever we went to a restaurant that had a salad bar she had us sneak her a few. I prefer mine cooked in things, most anything. My orzo recipe, stir fry, etc.

P.S. I have an appointment with a new doctor, recommended by my friends, sisters who have lived here in Lakeland all their lives. His name is Dr. Adam Parker. I am hopeful because there is a page on his website about inflammation, and a picture of a swollen foot.
http://www.trinityprimarycare.com/Inflammation.aspx
Plus, and this may sound weird but he is a little young. The last doctor I saw who was that young was a pitbull. I still love her, she is the one who diagnosed my fibromyalgia, and she is not one to give up until she finds an answer. Her name is Dr. Maria Christina Pantaleon, she has offices in Palm Harbor and Clearwater, and when I move back to that area I will be ringing her number for sure so if you live in that area, check her out. Tell her Michele McNett Kellenbenz still thinks she is the best doctor 12 years later, and I have highly recommended her!

Doctor Plan

2010-03-24T02:36:00.010-04:00

Do you think it's possible to treat an initial visit of a new doctor like a business interview? Maybe even use something similar to a business plan?
For instance, using a business plan format. A mission statement or vision statement, and objectives.

Main current concern:

My hands. I’ve had fibromyalgia for 15 years. It was tough, but I smiled and worked through it, sometimes 50 hrs a week, and went to school part-time. The FM is not what keeps me from working, or caused me to stop working, it’s my hands. I used to type 8-10 hours a day. Now I can’t type one page without having sharp pains in my hands. If I press further, I start having electric shock like pains in them. And, not just the right hand where the carpal tunnel is, BOTH hands.

Objectives:
Confirm diagnosis (given the conflicting diagnoses over the SAME EMG test).
What to do about the damage that has already been done. Can it be improved? If yes, how?
Is there an alternative to a CPAP machine for sleep apnea? I have chronic hayfever, and sinus problems, with moderate dryness. The air, even the CPAP with the humidifier, seriously increases this problem.
I need someone to teach me how to lose weight. A dietician or a nutritionist someone who can work with me on healthier alternatives, taking into consideration my health problems, and even my likes and dislikes.
Full list of Symptoms:

Inflammation hands
Pain in hands: aching, sharp pains (worse after for instance typing one page), next comes electric shock like pains
Pain in toes and feet, aching, rarely sharp
Inflammation in feet
Decreased feeling in hands and feet
Low grade fevers
Rash on scalp, back of head with low grade fever
Sensitivity to touch
General aching over entire body, worst left shoulder, down left arm, hands, feet, left chest
IBS
No BM for 3-4 days
Constant fatigue

5 Minute Microwave Chocolate Cake

2010-03-24T02:11:00.001-04:00

this is surprisingly light, fluffy, and good

In a coffee mug:

mix:

4 tbsp self rising flour

4 tbsp sugar or splenda

2 tbsp baking cocoa powder, like Hersheys

add 1 egg, then mix again

add:

1/2 a cap full of vanilla extract

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional) or nuts or both!

microwave on high for 3 mins, let rest for 2. Cake will rise to the top of the mug. Top with your favorite ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!

rough night

2010-03-16T02:59:00.000-04:00

all of this stuff with the doctors has really set off a bad Fibro flare. So I am stiff and sore and exhausted. Writing that letter over the past two days has set off a terrible flare in my hands. I should have used my voice recognition program, but I'm stubborn, so I didn't. I wrote the first page on Saturday, and before I could finish my left hand was experiencing sharp stabbing pains. That hand is not even the one affected by carpal tunnel.
I updated the letter yesterday. Both hands are in inflamed, the carpal tunnel and my right wrist, is really pulling, and I am experiencing severe pain in both hands. For some reason, my toes are killing me too. I wonder if a flare in the hand neuropathy sets off the toe neuropathy or if they both have to flare at the same time? And why do the fibromyalgia and neuropathy seem to flare at the same time?
I feel so useless today. I like I said, I am stiff, sore, my toes, and hands are in incredible pain, frankly my spine and hips aren't too happy either, it's hard to accomplish anything laying on the couch! Ok enough of this I am going to start a new more positive (I hope!) post!

letter to Dr Robert Estupinan March 12, 2010

2010-03-12T13:39:00.004-05:00

Dear Dr. Estupinan,

This letter is in regard to the certified letter you sent to me which I received on March 9, 2010 informing me you will no longer to treat me as your patient, advising me I have thirty days to seek new medical attention, further you will only be available for emergency purposes during those thirty days. When I read this letter, I immediately phoned your office and spoke with your nurse who explained to me “he does have the right to drop you as a patient if he feels your relationship has crossed the line” and suggested I contact Dr. Cuervo’s office, the neurologist you referred me to, and request a copy of the report he sent to your office.

I cannot begin to express to you my disbelief in what I have heard orally as well as, what I read in the report from Dr. Cuervo to you. Dr. Estupinan, I have been a patient of yours for almost 2 years. You have been treating me for my Fibromyalgia, Thyroid, Diabetes and Neuropathy. You have me on a regular regiment of the following medications; Neurontin, Cymbalta, Vicodin, Synthroid, Metformin, Flexeril, Xanax and Phenegran for all of the above health problems and I do not have a clue as to why you would drop me from your roster.

I was referred to see Dr. Cuervo for the neuropathy and the continuous joint pains that are getting worse and affecting me where I have lost feelings in both my hand and legs. When I saw Dr. Cuervo, I immediately liked him for the same reason I liked you, he is very direct, however, some of his remarks were insulting and with prejudice. Without him asking me any questions, he immediately discussed my weight and how I need to have the lap band procedure done and how I eat too much. I am willing to have the lap band, but I do have to wait until August. Again, he did not ask me what I ate that day, what I ate the night before. I am actually not a big eater, I eat the wrong things, and I understand that. admitted, which I found incredibly hard to do, I do not know how to lose weight in the hopes he would recommend a nutritionist or dietician. In fact his report stated he advised me to eat a diet of fruits, vegetables, low fat milk…. This is untrue, instead he said to me “Stop eating, no one ever came out of a concentration camp overweight.” Never in my wildest dreams would I expect such poor professional treatment and lack of professionalism from a doctor to a patient. People are not just prejudice towards color, and the comments he made about my weight and the concentration camps were so insulting and very much taken to my heart. Some of my family is Jewish, their relatives were in a concentration camp, escaped with one of their children and the three other children were killed so yes, this touched home very much and not in a good way at all and I cannot just accept this behavior.

Dr. Cuervo advised me the EMG test I was given at Watson Clinic by Dr. John A. DiLullo showed no neuropathy. I feel like I have been getting the run around and after this new information from Dr. Cuervo I do not understand how I have been diagnosed with neuropathy and been giving medication for neuropathy, first by a pain management doctor; Dr. Pruitt, and confirmed by the neurologist, John A. DiLullo. Aren’t Dr.’s DiLullo and Cuervo reading the same test results and how do they both find different answers and where does your professional opinion come into the picture? Instead of continuing to work with me on the problem, and knowing I have taken all of Dr Cuervo’s suggestions, I plan to have the carpal tunnel surgery in August. Dr Cuervo advised I was wearing the splints too tight, that’s why they were hurting, so I wear them now looser, and they are fine. He also explained about the morning testing, why it is important, therefore I have been testing every morning, and keeping a log. His assistant asked me about the CPAP and I explained I have problems with my sinuses which the CPAP increases. Dr. Cuervo didn’t mention the CPAP to me, but his assistant said I should speak to you about alternatives, which I planned to do.

Since I have seen you I have shared a lot with you regarding my life and how my physical problems have deteriorated my quality of life. I always thought we maintained a very good rapport and I can’t begin to tell you how many people I told about you. I could have really given up, but I didn’t. I am doing everything I can, but I am also limited by insurance at this time.

Respectfully,

Michele Kellenbenz

Cc: CEO - Jack Stephens; CIO - David Henson; President - Scott Swaggert; Board Member - Elisabeth Dupont; Partner - Annette Barnes; VP - Robert Buccino; VP - Robert H. Chapman; Dirctor of Clinical Services - Elaine Bertles; Executive Director - Louis Saco; Medical Director - Helen Mahias – Cherry; Human Resources Manager - Angela Rossiter; Manager of Patient Relations - Shane Turner; Neurolgist - Dr. John DiLullo; Pain Management Dr. - Dr. Michele McPhail – Pruitt; GP - Dr. Robert Estupinan; Neurologist - Dr. Herminio Cuervo

Dropped like a bad habit

2010-03-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

Today I received a letter from my primary care doctor releasing me as a patient. He said he is giving me 30 days notice to find a new doctor during which time he will only be available for emergency purposes. Now me, I liked this doctor, he's straightforward, I like that.
I called his nurse she said she was out last week so she had no idea but if I would hold on she would check. She said "Dr. Estupinan received the notes from the neurologist, Dr. Cuervo, and made the decision himself. He can do that if he feels the relationship has crossed the line." I have no idea what that means. Makes it sound like I hit on him or attacked him. I haven't seen him since I saw the neurologist. The nurse further advised I should call Dr.Cuervo's office to get a copy of the notes from the visit. I called Joy at Dr. Cuervo's office, by the way she is the sweetest lady ever. She is mailing me the report.
Maybe once Dr Cuervo said it's not neuropathy, and Dr Miller had already said it's (the inflammation and pain in my hands) isn't the problem that he didn't know where to go next. I know I have to go to the hand specialist and have my carpal tunnel operated on, but I have to wait till we have full insurance in August. I think it may come across some that I don't care about my health or whatever but with this limited insurance plan and our finances there are limits to what I am able to do until August.
Just frustrated and confused kind of day!

Bipolar / Fibromyalgia Roller Coaster

2010-03-03T07:03:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday I realized I was out of cymbalta. I knew that I was getting closer and had checked at the medical center with the prescription assistance program to pick up my refill while I was there to see my Dr. Unfortunately the woman, Sheila, who works in that department was out. I assumed her department was closed on Friday and decided I would pick my meds up on Monday. I am lucky enough to get free medication through Lilly Cares. I was under the impression that the medicine was automatically sent to my Dr, or in this case, the prescription assistance department at our medical center so I could just go pick it up.
Monday morning 9 am I called Sheila in the prescription assistance program at Watson Clinic here in Lakeland. Sheila informed me she doesn't have anything for me, she didn't give me my last supply 4 months ago (funny because that is where we picked it up). So I called the nurse at Dr Estupinan's office. She said I needed to call and speak to Sheila, I explained that I already did. She told me to call her again because the doctor's office is not responsible for prescription assistance, so I called Sheila again who told me I am not her patient, not her responsibility.
I called Dr Estupinan's office back. Spoke with the nurse again, she said though they do not get involved in prescription assistance normally she would call Sheila. In the meantime she could call me in a prescription to my pharmacy. So, I went to Target, waited 45 minutes for the pharmacist to come back from lunch and sign off on the prescription, and was given a bill for $135. If I had $135 for a month prescription I would not be getting free medication from the manufacturer.
Fri / Saturday I was up for 36 hours and slightly manic. Then slept about 24 hours on and off with the help of xanax. Monday up again another 36 hours. My husband came home to find me sitting in the closet. I don't know why, I started out cleaning it but when he got home I was just sitting there opening and closing the snap on this little purse over and over. Then the shit really hit the fan. Off to Walmart at 2 a.m. to pick up new work boots and gloves for my hubby, he had a hole in his. I picked up some travel size containers and some containers for my chocolate body scrub, plus some fantastic pink tissue paper with polka dots and black gift bags for the bachelorette party. I came home, made the "hangover kit" bags to go in the gift bags and the "barf bags" (for cookie tossin) that go in the hangover kits. Then I put the gift bags together. Made some necklaces for prizes. And, waited for 9 am to run to Joann's to get bobbins for my sewing machine, and to Michael's to get spray glue.
I finally fell asleep about noon with the help of more xanax. I woke up about 9 pm to a major fibromyalgia flare. EXTREME PAIN AND EXHAUSTION.
24 hours ago I couldn't stop functioning now I can't move. But, I can't sleep. My insides are bouncing off the walls while my "outside" is on a pain scale of 1 to 10 at least a 9.5. The worst thing is I know as soon as the fibro flare settles down I am going to be manic again, then flare again, then manic again. Is this what hell is like?
You can not simply go off a medication like cymbalta. The nurse won't take responsibility, Sheila won't take responsibility. I am going to call today at 9 am someone better have gotten off their ass or I'm calling my disability lawyer. Maybe they can help. Because I am freakin miserable.

NOT Neuropathy??

2010-02-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

This time frustrated doesn't even begin to cover how I am currently feeling. Monday I went to a neurologist, hoping and praying to finally have some answers on how to help reduce the pain and inflammation in my hands. Seriously, I miss my job, and want to get back to my life!
Help, I got, but not what I was expecting. Last year my pain management doctor had a neurologist at Watson Clinic (an enormous medical center here) run an EMG test on my hands.The new neurologist told me the EMG tests showed NO neuropathy! WHAT???!!!! I knew the test showed some carpal tunnel in my right hand. I was told the CT was caused by the neuropathy and that it would just come back. After my thyroid surgery I was not ready to have anymore surgeries anyways. Plus the CT doesn't cause the type of pain I have, nor is it supposed to cause inflammation in the knuckles. Further, both the pain and inflammation are in BOTH hands and the CT is only in the right.
I am so totally lost and frustrated. I will be calling my GP for an appointment on Friday to start this process all over again. They had previously ruled out rheumatoid arthritis as those test results were negative. This started over 2 1/2 years ago now. It took a year for the neuropathy diagnosis, and I thought we were getting somewhere then. Now I am back to square one and would like to crawl in a hole and bawl my eyes out.
For all those idiots out there who still think there is nothing wrong, I may be able to fake pain, which I can assure you I am not, but I certainly can not fake the inflammation.
If anyone has had similar problems please let me know. Thanks! chele

p.s. I have the same problems in my feet.

Worries, silly worries

2010-02-18T01:22:00.000-05:00

So I have 41 days to my big vacation. Where am I going? Did you see The Bachelor this week? That is where I am going! St. Lucia! My cousin is getting married there on April Fools Day. Does that mean it's foolish to get married? Possibly, but hey it turned out well for me so far! Anyway, my best friend and I are heading to the Caribbean for the wedding. Four nights and 5 days. I am extremely excited, yet more and more worried the closer it gets also. Here is what happened that has me so freaked out...
December 23 I spent the afternoon baking muffins and wrapping presents. December 24 I was gone from home about 8 hours. By 6 pm on Christmas Day I dozed off in a crowded room of people, and my husband's family is LOUD. I snuck off and crawled into one of the guest bedrooms at my mother in law's house. I had planned to stay the night anyway, but not to be asleep at 6 p.m. or sleep 16 hours. Obviously I had overdone it. But, I still don't feel as if I did. Baking muffins is the simplest chore ever, Christmas eve I was gone quite a while, but I was just sitting around hanging out, not running around.
My worry is, if this little can wear me out how am I going to be on the trip? The first day is the biggest, I have to be to the airport at 5:30 a.m. We arrive in St. Lucia at 1:30 then once we check in at the resort's desk at the airport we have an hour and a half drive to the resort. By then it will be 3:30. I am praying for time to take a nap then a long shower. That evening is the rehearsal dinner, and the bachelorette party (which I am excited to be cohosting, it's my first!!). So that first day is going to be a long long long one.
The next day, fortunately, we can sleep in the next day and lounge around the pool as the wedding is not until 4.
Friday, we leave at 8 a.m. for an 8 hour tour. The tour is a land & sea tour. We start and end on a catamaran including snorkeling with the fishies.This is going to be a long day. I am so excited about the tour and am praying it is not too much for me. If it is, I am sure I can get a cab back to the resort. But what a disappointment that would be!!
Saturday I think we are going to venture off to the Castries Market, it is 100 years old!! Other than that, Saturday is really going to be another relax by the pool day.
Hopefully fitting "relax" days in between the busy days will help. Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

Almost Back

2010-01-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

Forgive me, I know it's been a while and I am almost back. I can already feel the "seasonal depression" hell starting to lift. I'm not sure why but my grief this year has seemed worse than ever.
The New Year itself is starting off with a bang, or maybe that's a bust. Christmas Day I was passed out cold by 6:30 at my Mother In Law's. I slept for 14 hours, and woke in the midst of one of my worst fibro flares ever. Aching doesn't really seem to describe the pain in my extremities, especially my arms. And, the exhaustion seemed like it would not end. I came out of it about 5 days later only to find the neuropathy in it's own flare. My hands and feet were incredibly painful and burning. I also have seemed to lost quite a bit of feeling in the tips of my pinky and ring finger on my left hand. I am finally showing some signs of having knuckles again. I am not sure why my hands have been so inflamed, even using my voice recognition program this si the first I have really used the computer in a few weeks other than to do some reading. I have finished all 17 books of the Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, and am now on book 7 of her Meredith Gentry fey series. Both are excellent. One would not think that simply scrolling down with the mouse could cause such pain and inflammation, apparently it can.
I am thrilled that in spite of the pain of the season I really did have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year's Eve with my hubby. I hate that being able to have a little fun requires such a painful and exhausting payment. I am worried about my vacation the end of March. 4 nights and 5 days in the Caribbean for my cousin's wedding with my best friend. I am excited, and yet scared at the same time. Scared of the flare it will cost me.

Hibernating

2009-11-07T06:58:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry I have been AWOL the last few weeks, this usually happens to me about this time of the year. I have depression but about mid October it gets a lot worse. And this year I mean about ten fold. The doctor's call it seasonal depression in addition to the severe depression I already have, but it's not really. It's not the holidays. It begins right before my birthday or right after, depending sometimes. And then it starts. You see from end of October till mid January is the anniversaries of literally all the deaths of people I have been close to that have passed away, and also their birthdays. This may sound strange to say but not a month after our wedding my husband's step father passed away, the beginning of December. I seriously thought I had brought my family's curse with me, and the curse was spreading to my new family also. I know that is ridiculous but 4 years ago we lost my Grandma Oct 30, and this Christmas Day it will be two years since we lost my husband's Grandma. It seems it's about every two years we lose someone. My Dad and Grandma were the two most important people in my life. I am missing them this year more than ever, lots and lots of tears almost everyday.
I realized a few years ago how down I get this time of the year, my Dr always gave me xanax to help me get through. Even before I realized though I would become very down about mid November till mid January. After Grandma passed the period got lengthened to mid October - mid January. Then a few days after Grandma's birthday in January I am miraculously better. Used to be back to my happy go lucky self.
I wonder does bipolar change? I mean I used to be mostly up with some shorter periods of depression (not including the 3 month "seasonal" depression). Now (before the seasonal kicked in), I am down most of the time with few up times, and those up times are usually pretty recognizable as hypermania, because they are short lived periods (a day or two) of extreme energy and creativity.
My real point of all this was to apologize to anyone who reads my ramblings regularly (thank you by the way) for my disappearance. I will try to be a little better, but it is going to be pretty rough for me for a little over two more months. Just hang in there with me, I'm holding on by a thread, hold on too. Thanks. love from chele

Ups and Downs

2009-10-25T04:40:00.000-04:00

I think this moodiness may just kill me. I have been so moody lately. My husband is really a dream, works 10-14 hrs a day then comes home and does the dishes or whatever else I need and lately I have just been so bitchy. I hate being that way, reminds me of my mother, but I can't control it. Like right now it is 3 am I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. I have no idea why. Well, maybe exhaustion. I overdid it Thursday helping my friend with her computer, which I really wanted to do for her I just don't think either of us expected setting up her new computer to take so long. It wasn't the physical stuff that took so long, although I was laying on my stomach under the desk at one time folding cords up and tying each individual one up with a velcro strip. The other stuff, setting the actual pc up. First we couldn't get the cable modem to work. I spent 20 mins on the phone with someone out of country, finally he says "I am going to give you a ticket number because when I reset your modem we will lose the call. Resetting the modem should fix the problem but if it doesn't just call back and give the ticket number". So I wait the three minutes, call back give the ticket number and the new representative says to me right away "did you try the standby button? press and hold it for three seconds and then try the internet". Fixed. Geez. One thing our cable company offers is a free antivirus software called CA Internet Suite that I really think is fantastic so why should she have to pay for Norton? No reason, so I uninstalled Norton and downloaded the CA. Downloaded Picasa. If you haven't discovered Picasa yet it is another free program this time by Google. It is for photos. When I changed from my laptop to my new PC (thank you again Marty, I love u little bro) I uploaded all my photos to web albums on Picasa and then downloaded what I wanted to back onto my PC. All the others are still on my private, unlisted, web albums where I can access them any time I want but they aren't clogging up my computer.
So back to my moods, sorry I tend to digress at 4 am. I feel like I went through the entire range of emotions in less than 12 hours, happy, excited, angry, royally pissed off (same thing?? I don't know, not in this case), insulted, and then just exhausted, in pain, and crying. I took two xanax so I am starting to feel calm and hopefully sleep will come soon. I really must make an appointment to go back to my primary care doctor to see about a mood stabilizer, I feel like I am all over the place. I have been told this is quite normal for bipolar. I'm not sure. Ideas? Comments?

Kim's Pink Kiss Cookies (meringue)

2009-10-22T22:25:00.001-04:00

These are my sister in law, Kim's recipe. However, when I made them I used 3/4 cup of splenda instead of sugar and sugar free jello. Also, I tried to make them the regular way with sugar first, but the egg whites wouldn't thicken enough. My friend, Ronnee, told me to chill the bowl, and it worked!!!! oh, and I skipped the chocolate chips cause I forgot them. Also, I had to cook them for about an extra 45 minutes, seriously. Must \ be the crazy humidity here, I had looked at a few recipes online that said that could happen. I ate one after 30 mins and tasted like a big marshmallow. Probably not so great to eat uncooked egg whites, oops!

3 egg whites (let eggs come to room temperature)

1/8tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 tblsp strawberry jello
1/2 c chocolate chips

Beat egg whites and salt til fluffy. Add sugar and jello, beat til stiff. The mixing process must add LOTS of air or it will not work. No kitchen aid mixers.

Fold in chocolate chips. Drop with spoon onto lightly greased then floured pans.

Bake at 250 degrees for roughly 25 -30 minutes. Observe for pink chalky color.

Crippling pain ... Fibromyalgia

2009-10-21T05:05:00.000-04:00

denylady: I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a few years ago, but no doctor explained to me how ill this makes you. Even if I do too much house work or try to do something a bit strenuous it can put me to bed for a couple of days as I become so ill.

My feet are the worst thing, the pain on the bottom of my feet is awful. I can only walk short distances, when I tell doctors they just look confused and can't seem to give me any advice.
Can you shed some light on this illness for me as I get so depressed as I feel no one understands how I feel?

Dr Carol Cooper: You're right - nobody really knows how or why fibromyalgia makes you feel ill, or even exactly what it is.
On the whole, one of the best treatments is to pace yourself and gradually increase your activities till you get back to near-normal levels.
Strenuous activity, as you've learned, is counter-productive because you pay for it afterwards.
If you're depressed, an antidepressant and/or counselling might be an idea. Even if you're not depressed, antidepressants can help - it's been discovered that in small doses (too small to work against depression), some antidepressants help all sorts of chronic pain. If you haven't talked it over with your GP, that should probably be your next step.

And have you had a look at the useful site www.ukfibromyalgia.com?
p.s. For those of you who don't know fibromyalgia sufferers have decreased levels of seratonin, which is why antidepressants tend to help, they increase levels of seratonin in the blood (so does chocolate!).

Admiration of Strength and Courage

2009-10-20T03:08:00.000-04:00

My cousin is a fighter. That I have always known. She's the oldest of seven kids. was a second mother to all of them. I think all but two have lived with her at some point including me. She's worked two or three jobs when she's had to in order to support her family.

She's five foot tall and has never been afraid to tell someone how it is even if they are six foot 250 pounds. I used to make her crazy. I was the kid who was so shy I sat off by myself while the other kids played kickball at recess. I would never stand up for myself, which is what made her crazy. She taught me how when I lived with her. For which I will be eternally grateful (although others who find my bluntness rude may disagree).

In some ways we are so much alike. Neither of us have ever been able to hide our dislike of someone. Both of us count loyalty as one of the top traits we both admire and expect in a person. In some ways we are not alike. Nine months ago she had a car accident. She has a dislocated jaw she was supposed to have surgery on today (postponed due to more problems with...), she has swelling of the brain, she is having some kind of problem with all the discs in her back from top to bottom that I don't understand, neuropathy of the brain stem, some kind of eyesight problems, including temporary blindness at times. and the list goes on.

I thought I knew pain. I can not begin to fathom the pain she is in. But she still works at least weekends as a waitress. I don't understand how she does it. I can't help but compare our situations and find hers extremely worse, yet she has the steel to still work, as a waitress nonetheless. On her feet probably 8 hours a day. This blows my mind. I think I am green with envy. I have to say that today, my cousin is the person I admire most. For she makes me look inward, find myself lacking in steel, and determined to do better.

Strenth and Courage author unkown

2009-10-20T00:44:00.000-04:00

It takes strength to fit in.

It takes courage to stand out.

It takes strength to feel a friend's pain.
It takes courage to feel your own pain.

It takes strength to hide your own pains.
It takes courage to show them.

It takes strength to endure abuse.
It takes courage to stop it.

It takes strength to stand alone.
It takes courage to lean on another.

It takes strength to love.
It takes courage to be loved.

It takes strength to survive.
It takes courage to live.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

The Job Quest Part I

2009-10-18T22:38:00.001-04:00

There are people who have worse physical disabilities than me. In fact, there are millions of people who have worst disabilities than me. I see actor Christopher Reeves directing films, it's inspirational. I watch So You Think You Can Dance and there is a woman trying out who lost her arm, but still dances, another dancer who is dancing in spite of not being able to hear the music. But, I am not these people. I list the types of jobs I've had in the past:

permitter (drove 300-500 miles a day to building departments all over the state). Obviously this is impossible because I can't drive anymore due to the peripheral neuropathy in my hands.
convention & meeting coordinator / party planner. Wow, I was so good at this job. I'm not just saying that I am incredibly creative and we through some fantastic parties for some fantastic people. But this job is out too, it requires 18 hour days that include lifting, climbing, and even creativity such as floral arrangements and other arts & crafts type that I love. The whole of this job just eliminates itself as a possibility.
Working at Disney booking hotel reservations. My favorite job ever. Talking to guests on the phone 8 hours a day and typing information into the computer that long also. Sitting 8 hours a day is impossible given the muscle spasms in my shoulders, neck, and head. Plus, I am unable to do the typing. I could use my voice recognition software to type for me, but the problem with that is I can't talk to the customer and talk to the voice recognition program at the same time. Someone or something would certainly end up confused!

I want to be Christopher Reeves, the girl who dances in spite of not being able to hear the music. I want to be that inspirational. For now I struggle. I write my blog. I get letters from people that tell me I am inspirational and I have helped them. And that feels so incredible I can not describe it. Yet, to be inspirational and to help people does not help my husband move us above poverty, keep a roof over our head, food in our mouths.
I consider the perfect jobs:

being paid to blog. I can do it from home in my pajamas. I can do it if I am in the worst flare. My hands can look and feel like I spent the afternoon punching a wall. I can toss my cookies all day, and I don't need someone to drive me there.
Walmart greeter!! I'm pleasant, oh, but I can't stand more than a few minutes, let alone hours. Damn.
job sharing like an administrative assistant position, or even a sales position. But, the location would have to be somewhere I can get to on the handy bus, and I need to be able to use the Dragon Naturally Speaking program for typing. Which means my cubicle would have to be pretty sound proof so as not to drive other employees nuts.

Now what I need is a plan who to talk to, what organizations can help me.
This I will leave for part 2.

Neuropathy Quiz By Patrick Lowe, D.C.

2009-10-16T19:59:00.001-04:00

Rank Each Question 1-10

1 means it rarely happens or is very very mild

10 means it is Severe or Constant

___My hands feel like I am wearing invisible gloves on them or my feet feel like I am wearing invisible socks on them.

___I feel like someone is stabbing me with a thousand pins or needles.

___I am sensitive to being touched, causing sensations of burning, freezing or electric shocks.

___I am tormented by numbness, tingling or loss of feeling in my arms, hands or legs

___My hands go weak, I drop things.

_____ Total Score

Single question scoring

1 to 5 in any question you probably have mild to moderate neuropathy

5 to 10 in any question you probably have moderate to severe neuropathy

Total Scores

2 to 5 may indicate mild neuropathy

6 to 15 may indicate moderate neuropathy

15 or higher may be considered severe neuropathy

Diabetes Friendly Double Chocolate Cheesecake

2009-10-15T11:00:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:
24 sugar-fre Oreo cookies (about a pack and a half) crushed
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
4 packages, 8 ounce each, cream cheese, softened
1 cup Splenda
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package, eight squares, bakers semi sweet chocolate melted and cooled
4 eggs

Instructions:
Heat oven to 325°F. Mix crumbs and butter, press onto bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, flour, and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add chocolate, mix well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low after each just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake 45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate four hours. Serve with fresh berries if desired.

My Breasts Are Lumpy: What Does It Mean?

2009-10-14T11:00:00.002-04:00

I have fibrocystic breasts. I am also at high risk for breast cancer, as there have been multiple relatives with both of breast and other types of cancer on both sides of my family I have a micro-cluster of calcifications that I'm told is precancerous yes if I think about this, it does worry me some. My problem is with the fibrocystic breasts they are lumpy. According to the Mayo Clinic fibrocystic breast disease is a very common noncancerous benign condition the cause of the condition is unknown. However, it is thought to be associated with the change in hormones in premenopausal women. It is also associated with the hormone fluctuations during a woman's menstrual cycle.
Fibrocystic breast syndrome may or may not come with pain . The pain can be intense and is generally in the upper outer quadrant of the breast. Moist heat, a reduction in your intake of caffeine and a good support bra may help relieve your symptoms. According to Dr. John Lee's book, "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause," natural progesterone cream applied at a dose of "15 to 20 mg per day from ovulation until a day or two before your period returns will usually result in a return to normal breast tissue in three to four months." Dr. Lee further advises that once the desired results have been obtained that you should taper your dose of natural progesterone down until you have reached the minimum dosage required for you to maintain your results. Dr. Lee , also recommends the use of Vitamin E, in doses ranging from 400 IU to 600 IU per day, to reduce symptoms associated with fibrocystic breast changes. Other vitamin suggestions include Vitamin B6, a B complex, and magnesium.

What to Do When You Find a Lump in Your Breast

First, don't panic. Calmly call your physician to schedule an appointment and ask yourself the following questions:

What is the date of your last period?
When did you discover the lump?
Is there a family history of breast problems?
Have you had any previous breast problems?
Have you had a previous breast biopsy or other breast surgery?
How does the lump feel? Is it hard or soft? Does it feel grainy?
How big is the lump and has is grown larger or smaller since you discovered it?
Do you have any nipple discharge?
Are you taking any medications?

Managing Chronic Pain: 10 Steps from Patient to Person

2009-10-13T17:55:00.000-04:00

Making the journey from patient to person takes time. The isolation and fear that can overwhelm a person with chronic pain grows over time. And the return to a fuller, more rewarding life also takes time.

It’s a journey with many phases. The ACPA describes these phases as Ten Steps.

The ACPA’s Ten Steps For Moving From Patient To Person.

STEP 1: Accept the Pain
Learn all you can about your physical condition. Understand that there may be no current cure and accept that you will need to deal with the fact of pain in your life.

STEP 2: Get Involved
Take an active role in your own recovery. Follow your doctor's advice and ask what you can do to move from a passive role into one of partnership in your own health care.

STEP 3: Learn to Set Priorities
Look beyond your pain to the things that are important in your life. List the things that you would like to do. Setting priorities can help you find a starting point to lead you back into a more active life.

STEP 4: Set Realistic Goals
We all walk before we run. Set goals that are within your power to accomplish or break a larger goal down into manageable steps. And take time to enjoy your successes.

STEP 5: Know Your Basic Rights
We all have basic rights. Among these are the right to be treated with respect, to say no without guilt, to do less than humanly possible, to make mistakes, and to not need to justify your decisions, with words or pain.

STEP 6: Recognize Emotions
Our bodies and minds are one. Emotions directly affect physical well being. By acknowledging and dealing with your feelings, you can reduce stress and decrease the pain you feel.

STEP 7: Learn to Relax
Pain increases in times of stress. Relaxation exercises are one way of reclaiming control of your body. Deep breathing, visualization, and other relaxation techniques can help you to better manage the pain you live with.

STEP 8: Exercise
Most people with chronic pain fear exercise. But unused muscles feel more pain than toned flexible ones. With your doctor, identify a modest exercise program that you can do safely. As you build strength, your pain can decrease. You'll feel better about yourself, too.

STEP 9: See the Total Picture
As you learn to set priorities, reach goals, assert your basic rights, deal with your feelings, relax, and regain control of your body, you will see that pain does not need to be the center of your life. You can choose to focus on your abilities, not your disabilities. You will grow stronger in your belief that you can live a normal life in spite of chronic pain.

STEP 10: Reach Out
It is estimated that one person in three suffers with some form of chronic pain. Once you have begun to find ways to manage your chronic pain problem, reach out and share what you know. Living with chronic pain is an ongoing learning experience. We all support and learn from each other.