Scared.

I had a follow-up with my doctor today. I’ve been really anxious about it. I didn’t want to go on medicine. But I talked to him, and he was really set on it. He wants to try Synarel, the nasal spray version of Lupron, which he said is very well tolerated, and it’s better than the shot because you can stop it anytime. The medication should stop my period, my pain, and endo growth. But I’m still really scared of side effects, and if I don’t like it, I’m going to stop. I’m so anxious. I also found out I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, which is a really common thing in women with endometriosis. Eventually I’ll either wind up with hypo- or hyper-thyroidism, neither of which are good. And all of which can affect my health and fertility. I’m scared  to death. And in pain. And anxious. I should have just gone home but I’m here at work. I should eat lunch but I feel sick. I want to curl up into a ball under my desk and just go away.

I did have a good breakfast, though. Smoothie:

• spinach
• parsley
• kale
• banana
• pineapple
• mango
• chia seeds
• flax
• coconut milk

 So good! I’m only going to be more dedicated to managing my nutrition, health, and weight now. I’m going to make sure that I get regular bloodwork all the time and that it’s always getting better.

Another Endo Day

Fell back asleep last night. Was in horrible pain when I woke up this morning. Ate an (unpictured) chocolate date ball when I woke up, then some brown rice cereal with almond milk, and for lunch, some leftover vegan/gf mac & cheese. Some vanilla chai tea with almond milk.

Snowy Day (but so far not a snow day)

Really hoping that any minute now I’ll get an email or text telling me not to come in… it’s really coming down out there and only getting worse. But I am all ready for work and had a really good smoothie this morning! In the mix:

• Almond milk
• spinach
• kale (not too much today!)
• bananas
• raw ginger
• peanut butter
• cinnamon

Creamy and sweet and just a little spicy.

Packed a big lunch of healthy foods, you know, in case we get snowed in!

Not feeling sick today (fingers crossed!) but in a good amount of pain. Both pre-surgery endo pain and incision pain… my belly button incision is black and blue, and I don’t know why, but that hurts and so do a couple other incision sites. Not good a month out, so I think I’ll call the doctor.

Cold, cold go away!

Definitely not hayfever. Slept most of the day on the couch yesterday, woke up and had some lean cuisine and then went back to bed. Woke up today still feeling awful and still in lots of pain. Feels like I got hit in a couple of my incision sites, I don’t know why I’m so sore. Bummer of a weekend. Went to the produce store to get oranges, kale, spinach, mint, cucumbers, strawberries, and kiwi. Making strawberry kiwi fruit leather in the dehydrator. Made a smoothie with 3 oranges, banana, spinach, kale, almond milk, and vanilla. I was going for a green orange Julius but it wound up being pretty bitter so I added some stevia.

Also, I learned that “juice oranges” means “cheap, ugly, sweet oranges that will turn your fingers to bloody stumps if you try to peel them.”

I don’t know how i can be sick when I’m eating so many fruits and vegetables. It hardly seems fair.

Adventures in Gluten-free breakfast

I wanted pancakes this morning. My version of pancakes is : put some dry ingredients in a bowl. wet them. cook. This never fails.

Except when you’re not using flour and you maybe use too much baking soda…

I used almond flour, oatmeal, flax, coconut milk, and almond milk. some salt and stevia and baking powder… and they just kind of foamed. and foamed and foamed in the pan. Eventually they did get flippable, and when i ate them with coconut butter, a sprinkle of coconut, and maple syrup, they were delicious. So, pancakes accomplished. But next time, recipe. Or at least some oat flour. The second one came out somewhat better than the first. But coconut fixes all!

Also, I don’t think i ate too much last night. It was so hard to listen to my body because I had such a screaming headache, but by the time I finally fell asleep, i was very,very hungry and my stomach was growling, so I wasn’t stuffed at all. And I haven’t been weighing myself, but I do feel like I’ve been steadily losing some weight the last couple weeks and I feel really good about that. Now if I could only feel well enough to get some real exercise!

I’m not sure at this point if I’m sick or it’s hayfever. I feel like death, but then an antihistamine clears it up. I still wind up with that fuzzy under the weather feeling, but I just don’t think I have a cold. I do, however, have lots of endo pain today. i took something for it and i”m icing my tummy, so I hope that helps. Looking forward to a relaxed day of video games and painting minatures for D&D.

 

I stayed up late reading The China Study – he goes into a lot about how politics and food lobbies keep this research from being mainstream knowledge. He explains how the diet ranges recommended by the goverment do absolutely nothing – and shows how a very unhealthy diet could easily fall into those ranges and rely entirely on crap foods.

Breakfast

Another busy day… I slept in today and had to rush, had my smoothie to go in the car. And a granola bar when I got to work. I’m not in too much pain today, but I feel really sick – cold and flu-y. I need to go sleep more..

Today’s smoothie was green tea, lots of kale and spinach, and cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes.

I need to have more tea…

 

Feeling Better!

I don’t feel anywhere near as sick as I did yesterday (and not much endo pain) so I’m back at work. I had awful dreams last night – I don’t know if they’re just from the painkillers (which i’ve been off for days and hoping it can stay that way) or from crazy hormones, or what. It makes me so tired.

Breakfast this morning was a green smoothie, of course – green tea, clementines, kale, parsley, baby bok choy, swiss chard, spinach, blueberries. And then a granola bar for some protein! I’ve been taking Chlorella and Spirulina tablets, and loading myself up with multivitamins and zinc to kick this cold. I also take  Vitamin D because I’m deficient 😦

 

 

Hoping I continue to feel better today – and Happy Spring!

Good start after a bad night

Last night I really wasn’t feeling so well, but this morning has been better so far. I’m a little foggy, but not too much pain. Had time to whip up a huge green smoothie (and I have NO excuse for not doing this every day, i just need to do the dishes. I have two jars/jugs/whatever they are called for my blender, and there is no excuse for not having one of them clean every day).

• a pile of greens from a mixed bag of kale, collards, and i don’t know what else
• a big bunch of parsley
• coconut milk (I don’t always get enough fat in my smoothies)
• peanut butter (ok, maybe i do!)
• protein powder
• plain cocoa powder
• chia seeds
• almond milk

Thoughts on the new Pope? I’m Catholic, but I haven’t liked a Pope since John Paul II. This guy seemed ok at first – really interesting that he’s the first Jesuit pope, since the papacy and the jesuits generally do not get along, but I think he might be too outspoken on anti-gay issues (especially adoption.) But since he was not (as far as we know) a member of the Hitler youth, I will give him a bit of a chance… I work at a Jesuit university so everyone here is pretty jazzed.

Early morning

Breakfast grabbed on the go this morning, I see my therapist before work on Wednesdays. Haven’t seem him since before my surgery so it’s been a few weeks.

I’m feeling better than yesterday, but still in a fair bit of pain. Meant to wear my Fitbit today but I forgot it and I’m kind of bummed. I’ll still try to get in some walking. I have to walk a bit to and from the trolley to get to my therapist, so yay for unavoidable exercise.

An Endo Day

How appropriate that just after starting a blog to chronicle this sort of thing, I wind up taking an “endo day.” To be fair, it’s not just the endo – it’s also the first time I’ve gotten my period since the surgery, and without birth control pills. It’s brutal. I’m in so much pain – especially lower back and hip pain. I can barely lie down OR sit up. I did manage to make a healthy breakfast smoothie with lots of spinach.

In the blender:

• Spinach
• Almond milk
• chia seeds
• all natural peanut butter
• plain cocoa powder
• chocolate/peanut butter protein powder (whey)

So, the only thing I’d change there is a different protein powder, but this is a giant tub so I want to use it up!

My plan for today is to try to get some work done from home so that today isn’t a total loss.