Well, I definitely feel better today! (Sunday) Even though I slept late this morning, when I got up I could stand & stretch! I’m still pretty stiff in the low back/pelvis but SOOO much better. I stretched for a few minutes & I was ready to go.

I was able to do almost three hours of work around the house & garden, being careful not to over-work my back (a past pattern of mine).  Around lunchtime I did have another ‘I’m so tired I’m passing out’ episode & I took a 2-1/2 hour nap,  but then I was up again & felt ready to go do more!  This is definitely progress.

I think the biggest change I’ve noticed over the past few days is that I’ve been hardly drinking any coffee or tea!  (Those of you who know me can pick your jaws up off the floor now.)  I’m usually the gal with a big mug in my hand most of the day–it’s the only way I’ve been able to keep myself on my feet & reasonably clear-headed.  But now I feel a more natural, ‘calmer’ sort of energy, if that makes any sense.  Today I never drank even one cup of green tea and I didn’t  notice until dinnertime!  This is amazing! I’m not having physical cravings for carbs either, just more of a  reflex kind.  I trimmed the the crusts off my son’s sandwich & almost ate them–but instead our dog Jay Jay performed the time honored role of clean up crew.  Whew!

I’ve had so many changes going on with my body over the past week it’s been hard to take time to post an update!!  (Or to sit for very long–my lower back has had me in knots at times.  Fortunately I feel much better now!)  So, where to begin?  I’ve had a very busy six days at Renew Integrative Health Center . . .

First, I had recommendations last week from Jonathon Dodds, L.Ac on eating lots of red foods to boost my intake of fresh antioxidants and other natural nutritional factors, along with changing my iron supplement.  I immediately did both that afternoon and this week I’ve already felt some difference in my energy level and was able to reduce both the allergy and antacid medications I’m taking. Yay!!  Thanks Jonathan!

I also had a meeting last Saturday with Tina Mears, MFT on the obstacles standing in my way of meeting my goals & how to overcome them.  She helped me strengthen my resolve to put time for myself at the top of my daily to-do list. As a wife, mother, educator, and back-up for my husband’s business I end up at the bottom of my list unless I hold my ground and insist on time to do my exercises & prepare healthy meals (sometimes two–one for me & one for them), as well as time for my various treatments at Renew.  I had already begun to carve time for myself but Tina really reinforced how necessary this is for my health–and the health of my family.

Then on Monday and Tuesday I attended two seminars at Renew: One given by Dr. Kamyar M. Hedayat, M.D. on the biological (endocrine) interactions between my mood, the foods I eat, and how these profoundly effect my overall health; The other, given by  Dr. Robert Buchel, D.C. was on the importance of ridding my body of accumulated toxins from my years of over-the-counter pain medications (which I take in high doses), various prescription drugs, and (like Dr. Hedayat’s lecture) the constant cravings for sugar and simple carbs (read: pastry, cakes, bread, chocolate).

These seminars really helped me understand the chains of  biological reactions that are happening within my body and gave me tremendous encouragement! Now I understand why I’ve been feeling such profound exhaustion, light-headedness, fuzzy thinking, and muscle/joint pain.  But even more importantly, this knowledge has expanded my understanding of the interactions between my liver, pancreas, gall bladder, digestive system, brain/mood, hormonal/chemical reactions that drive and serve these structures & their individual processes, & much more.   And this knowledge is extremely helpful in my understanding the approach of the doctors here at Renew.   (I guess I need to understand the scientific basis for everything–even treatments like acupuncture have scientific language that can be accurately applied.)

So, I began my physical therapy Wednesday with Dr. Vanessa Jackson, D.P.T and Adam in the PT suite & boy, did they get my body moving!  Not to say I was running & sweating–they were working hard to unlock my stiff muscles & joints, work on my posture, & go through a stretching & limbering routine for me to do daily at home.  I’m sure glad they have this awesome whirlpool table (trough-shaped table filled with a warm ‘waterbed’ that has whirlpool jets pulsing underneath)–aahh!  Pure heaven for the stiff body!  All this helped me tremendously.

Wednesday I also had my second chiropractic adjustment with Dr. Buchel and he really worked, adjusting my joints from the base of my skull all the way down to my feet!  My spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, pelvis, hips, knees, & ankles were checked & adjusted if needed.  Now I was walking much better, although my body wasn’t quite sure what to do!  I actually had to be conscious of my movements as my normal pattern of walking had changed & if I wasn’t careful I felt I might stagger sideways.  Fortunately, my body acclimated quickly & the awkwardness passed in a few minutes.

Finally on Wednesday, I had a full history & examination with Dr. Hedayat. When finished I was so gratified & relieved when he explained that many of the destructive cycles he had spoken of (in his seminar on Monday) were ongoing in my body & causing much of my ill-health.  After being told my HMO they couldn’t find what was wrong with me & I would ‘just have to live with it’, I was excited to have an actual diagnosis & to start a course of action to begin healing!  The most important thing Dr. Hedayat told me was I need to rest my liver, gall bladder, & pancreas right now.

So for the next month or so I will avoid all starchy carbs like pastry, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, & sugar.  (Waa!  Bye-bye chocolate!)  Along with the dietary changes recommended by Jonathan & a few detoxifying supplements, I will eat animal protein with each meal, have lots of vegetables, & before I eat any fruit I will eat 3-4 almonds or walnuts to aid the digestive process.  I will also snack on whole eggs (I like hard-boiled) & of course, drink plenty of water.  I will miss my bread & rice especially but I can do this for a month, or even two if needed.  I understand why I need to do this so I’m not seriously tempted cheat. (But I’ll be glad when I can have some Arroz con Pollo or fresh, whole-grain bread again!)

Then on Thursday I was able to get up in the morning and actually stand up straight & walk without shuffling about!  I look in the mirrior–GASP! My shoulders are back, my pelvis tilted correctly–I look like I just lost 10 pounds overnight!  Thanks Dr. Vanessa, Adam, & Dr. B!!

I’m so grateful–and motivated!!  I’ve never before had all these issues brought together by one person, or group of people working together. Now, having concrete knowledge and a plan for action is the key to my new-found determination.  Before, I was always aware that each practitioner was separate and many times their individual recommendations were incompatible in varying degrees.  The lack of coordination between each modality left me with many doubts.  I would have difficulty trying to pick and choose what parts of which programs to do, and my guesswork was never very useful or satisfying.  Now I have a terrific group of people who are extremely well-trained, have a wealth of experience in their fields, and truly want me to succeed.  Their good humor & grace has already shone through & I know they will be of tremendous help when I hit those stumbling blocks, as surely I will.

Unfortunately, on Thursday I was exhausted all day after my action-packed Wednesday (including 1-1/2 hour traffic each way!).  Then, as I was feeling better, I  had some sort of stomach/digestive crisis that night.  Whether it was food poisoning, a 6 hour flu, or the grocery store rotisserie chicken was too greasy, I don’t know.  But I ended up on the floor for 3-4 hours with pains in my right side like I’ve never felt before.  After ridding myself of that which offended my body, the pain slowly subsided & I was finally able to go to bed about 3 am.

Friday I had to cancel teaching workshops after being up all night but I finally felt well enough to head down to Renew again where Jonathan gave me acupuncture which really helped soothe & calm the last feelings of pain & nausea.  Then Dr. Buchel gave me another comprehensive chiropractic adjustment after a soothing heat treatment.  Then, some gentle stretching on the traction table & I felt pretty good!  (I did cancel my Physical Therapy session though.)  But I headed over to The Broken Yolk & had a terrific 4-egg omelet with tons of veggies & herbal tea (no honey!).  I did look wistfully at the yummy blueberry muffin, but I was good & took it home for my son.  Then I came home & slept like the proverbial log all afternoon, night,  & late this morning (Saturday, I’m just up really late–yikes! It’s 12:59 am on Sunday morning!)

But I do feel much better today.  My muscles are a bit sore but nothing major.  My right side is still tender inside, but I’m fine with eating from my approved list.  I’m standing straighter & I did some stretches; tomorrow I’ll do my full PT routine of assigned stretches & limbering exercises.   Boy, it feels great to start feeling good again!!  Thanks everyone at Renew!

Boy, it’s sure hard for me to stick with a plan some days!   Yesterday I’d planned on a yoga class with my 8 year old son but now he was the one with the bad cold so I ended up staying home and catching up on the piles of housework and chores that were neglected while I was sick over the weekend.   Between tending a sick kid, laundry, and urgent phone calls/emails it was almost 8:00 pm before I even realized it!!

But I was stopped in my tracks by a good call–Lauren from Renew Integrative Health Center.  She’s been assigned as my patient advocate & will be working with me to coordinate Renew’s services & practitioners.  Whew!   I have appointments scheduled next week to see the Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, Accupuncturist, & MFT (Marriage & Family Therapist), and will have an appointment in the next week or so with the MD to do blood tests and other lab work.   Together we’ll map out a treatment plan to address all my medical issues, from strengthening and mobilizing my spine to stress-reducing excercise & meditation.  (And numerous other modalities, I’m sure!)  ;-D

So on one hand, I’m bummed that all I got in was a quick stretch yesterday & I’m very stiff this morning, but then I did reduce my stress by knocking off a lot of things on my must-do list.   ( rationalize, rationalize )   And of course I was excited to be able to get things rolling with the folks at Renew!!  Now I really feel there’s a plan taking shape, & that’s a great stress-reducer too!   (Can you tell I crave order?   <grin>    Probably because our life has been very fluid for years while we’ve done the research & development for our start-up, & then worked to get it off the ground.)

So, instead of being down on myself, I’ll decide to learn from yesterday:

-  Get that timer for the office to make myself get up & stretch !!!!  (Didn’t I say that before?  Oops, I’ve got to get to the store so add that to my list . . . )

-  Completing tasks is good–it reduces stress–but it’s bad when that’s all I’m      doing.  ( . . . must . . . take . . . breaks . . . )

-  I can’t make time for myself if I don’t notice time is passing until I’m too tired to do anything so,  I guess I’ll have to get into a new routine of self-care early in the morning before everyone is up.

(Hmmm, now I wonder how I’ll do that last one??   Hubby’s up early, works a 10+ hour day & comes home late every night,  so we all stay up to see each other.    Well, this is definitely something we’ll have to work out . . . )

Oh sleep is a wonderful thing!  Went to bed with a rotten cold on Friday night & slept 18 hours a day on the weekend. (Rah.   Super-exciting 4th, oh yeah.   Rah.)   I missed all the fun, BBQ, &  fireworks but it was worth it to feel almost human again.  In my opinion, the only good thing about getting sick is that great ‘rebound’ feeling you get a day or two afterward where you feel really great, like you can do anything!  I’m definately looking forward to that!  (But I’ll really have to watch myself like a hawk so I don’t overdo–that’s a major problem of mine at times! )    ;-D

So I got in a good 20 min stretch this morning & baked my stealth-healthy banana bread for my 8 year-old son (max protein, low-fat, tons of omega-3s  etc & yes! I did have a piece, but he licked the bowl).  Then I got busy & worked on my neglected financials, class curriculum, scheduling, & emails.  Ouch!  Sitting at the computer for more than 1/2 hour at a time makes me walk like I’m 110 years old!  Yikes!  I guess I better get a timer to set while I’m working as I tend to get lost in what I’m doing for hours at a time.

Starting tomorrow morning, my son has a yoga class which is taught by a friend of ours so I’m going to sit in the back & stretch & follow along with the kids as much as feels good.  After 8 rounds of  various physical therapies over the years I’m pretty good at knowing what’s a ‘good’ kind of pain & a ‘bad’ kind so I’ll just continue to work on my flexibility while being extra careful, since my body’s so badly out of whack.

I received my 1st contact from Lauren at Renew Integrative Health Center on Friday & the group will be contacting me this week.  Kate has been assigned as my patient advocate, which I think is very nice.  After looking over their website & seeing the array of services offered–& knowing that a big issue in improving my health has been a lack of communication & respect between my previous doctors/practitioners–I feel comforted to know that my health issues will be coordinated & if something isn’t working out, all my providers will know of it immediately.

So, since I can’t wait to get started, I sent Lauren a brief summary of my health issues, supplements, medication, etc to answer some of their basic questions, & help them in their planning.  Yuck!  It’s really discouraging to write it all down & see all the junk that I’m dealing with right now, although I can see how so much of it is inter-related.  Pain, stress, sleep & energy issues–obviously they are an integrated part of my ‘circle of inertia’.   Double-yuck!!

I remind myself  this is just another reason to be happy that I was chosen to participate in this Challenge–the direction of my inertia has the force of habit driving it & I need a force greater than my intertia to knock me into a new direction! Well, I can’t think of a better slap to the backside than having great support (Renew; Trudi, Patti, & David at Ch10) coupled with public accountability (egad!  whatever shall I say in my blog–or what might get caught on tape– if I don’t stay on my path!)  It’s soooo embarrassing that I need such a drastic push right now, but the groove of putting my family & our finances first & myself at the bottom of my to-do list is deep and well-worn.  So I’m hugely greatful to get such a terriffic boost & I know I’ll be making all the progress I possibly can over the next six months.  More than enough enough progress to get new habits firmly & deeply entrenched!  (I think I can, I think I can . . . )

One thing I know will be on the top of my list is to regain my flexibility, muscle strength, physical endurance, & aerobic endurance.  So I guess I’ve got lots of swimming, walking, hiking, weight-lifting, & yoga or other flexibility & posture training in my future.  Hey!  Writing that down suddenly makes me say, “Let’s Go, I’m READY!!” I love to hike & walk!  Mind/body work is very relaxing and energizing!  And although boring, I can find swimming & weightlifitng almost zen-like if I put myself in the proper, positive frame of mind.  (Plus, I can always listen to an audio book!)

If I close my eyes & really think back, my body remembers how good I feel when it’s fit–my pain is dramatically less & I have lots of energy & enthusiasm for life!    It’s been way too long since I felt good & my hubby & son are really missing that side of me (they tell me constantly).  No to mention our huge, goofy, lab-mix misses going on walks & hikes with me too– he brings his leash with soulful eyes whenever he sees me put on walking shoes!

So, I resolve that wheneverI get discouraged, I will keep reminding myself that regaining my health will not only be to my ultimate benefit, but to my family’s harmony & well-being as well.  I will deeply imagine how I will feel once again when I’m more flexible & fit, using my body’s memory of the past as my guide & inspiration.  I will put the time for myself  on my schedule as top priority (my friend reminds me that I’ve got to put my oxygen mask on first–trite but true).  And I will hold myself to a steady pace, one day at a time, so I don’t blow it & overdo when I begin to feel better, like I’ve done too often in the past.

OK.  I’m ready, I think I’m set, I’ve started, can I GO now?   ;-D