Gratitudes August 27, 2014

1.  Upswings! Don’t you love them?! This is my one week anniversary for this lovely episode of  upswing. Not much pain, way more energy. Got Stuff Done. Took Walks. Ran Around. Yesterday, my fibro specialist, who hadn’t seen me in months, was awed by my awesomeness!

2. Visiting with my mama.

3. Now that I have a little Stuff, (pre- Regular Stuff), not relying on alcohol and using far fewer OTC meds to kill pain. My new plan for alcohol is none in the house. Going out, my cocktail is mineral water and lime and/or mint (muddled at the bottom of the glass). With my meal, one glass of wine. It’s working! And I’m losing weight too.

Did I fall down a rabbit hole?

Well. I let it be known that I sent my medical marijuana application to the state last week. The card takes about a month to come. Two hundred bucks!

A friend knows and sends me a present in the mail. I don’t open it right away because I’m already woozy from my massage therapist’s massage and awesome Reiki session. The morning after,  I opened the box.  I opened the box and set the squat mason jar on the coffee table. The jar was filled with an artichoke-green cream. My husband and I sat on the couch, staring at it. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Would I get taller? Would I get smaller? Are you a caterpillar? What’s with the cat? Isn’t that Red Queen a bitch? Eat me. But I don’t have my card yet. Eat me. No card! Eat me.

I could tell you what happened later, but then I’d have to kill you.

Alice and Dorothy

Canada, Candida ~ Which is nicer?

My new, so wonderful, eastern/western naturopathic doctor, ordered three tests for me to do at home and mail to the lab.  One poop sample to test for microbes, and two saliva tests to test for parasites (she’s very suspect of our SE Asia trip, and you can pick up some type of parasite anywhere). I haven’t taken the saliva tests yet because I’ve yet to work up enough saliva. There are three days of spitting into a test tube and filling it; and three days of putting a cotton roll under my tongue until I soaked it. Well it soaked up all the saliva under my tongue, and it was barely wet. So I’ve kind of been avoiding/forgetting it. She pretty much told me to suck lemons.  Actually, I’m to cut a lemon, smell the lemon, put my tongue on it, even take just a pinch. That’s supposed to make me have more saliva. I’ll report back on how that turned out. The poop test was clean except for The Dreaded Yeast. Canada! I mean Candida! I’m already living with the effects of it so it was good to have a diagnosis. She gave me anti-microbial herbs to take.  I hope they work; there are also prescription drugs.

According to MindBodyGreen, the signs of Candida are:

1. Skin and nail fungal infections (such as athlete’s foot or toenail fungus)
2. Feeling tired and worn down or suffering from chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia <ED.HELLOO>
3. Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, or diarrhea
4. Autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis <ED.HELLOOOOO FOR ME>
5. Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis
6. Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, lack of focus, ADD, ADHD and brain fog  <HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO. YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN FOR THE NEXT TWO.>
7. Skin issues such as eczema, psoriasis, hives, and rashes
8. Irritability, mood swings, anxiety, or depression
9. Vaginal infections , urinary tract infections, rectal itching or vaginal itching
10. Severe seasonal allergies or itchy ears
11. Strong sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings

Oh, Canada oh Candidaaaa …..

Gratitudes August 21

1. Getting a phone call from my sweet brother Steve, who lives in France. And he’s planning to visit us during the Fall or holidays!

2. This is my fourth day on an upswing. I’ve been really productive and even sometimes energetic.

3. I’m planning a trip to Cali, to attend an art event/will be a party created by the water conservation group I’m writing for. I’ll be staying with a very dear friend in SF. Then down the peninsula to see  to see my (grown) kids. I’m planning to feel as good as I do today.

 

If you can stand for 5-10 minutes, you can cook this dinner

The one thing you will cook is the fish dish. (Actually, this would work for unskinned chicken breasts as well.) Pick up or have someone pick up or have delivered:

• Healthy side dishes
• White fish filets (cod, sole, etc. but halibut works too)
• However many tomatoes you need for your household after reading the recipe
• A jar of tapenade
• Dried herbs, in combo or alone: basil, Herbs de Provence, oregano

Fish with tapenade and tomatoes

1. Preheat your oven to broil or 450 F.
2. Place some parchment (not enough to burn if broiled) on a baking sheet. Or you could oil the baking sheet, but then you have clean-up.
3. Place your fish filets on the pan.
4. Brush a layer of tapenade on the fish.
5. Slice the tomatoes and place them on the tapenade.
6. Sprinkle with one or a combo of dried herbs: basil, Herbs de Provence, oregano
7. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
8. Pop this into the oven.
9. Check the fish* after five minutes and remove when done. The fish should be 145 F or a little less, as it will continue to cook.
10. Let it sit a few minutes, drizzle with a finishing of olive oil (if you like) and serve.

*The fish should be 145 F.  The best way to check is a trustworthy meat thermometer. No one likes undercooked or overcooked fish or any other protein. Invest in a meat thermometer! A pet peeve ~ WHY do they serve judges on cooking shows raw or overcooked proteins when they can USE A MEAT THERMOMETER?!

Oopsy, I’m puffy.

Most of my synchronicities don’t seem to mean nor lead to anything. But they happen a lot, and they are uncanny and usually fun.

I see a cadre of doctors, therapists, and healers. At an acupuncture clinic, the acupuncturist evaluated me, and among other things, told me I have systemic inflammation.
“How can you tell? I asked.
“Because you are puffy.”
“How can you tell the difference between fat and puffy?”
“I just can.”
I went home. “Pooks, am I puffy?”
“I’ve never thought of it that way, but yeah, I guess you are puffy.”

That night, I watched Maron, a TV show about and by Marc Maron, an edgy 50-year old, sardonically angry comedian. He does his ‘WTF’ podcast out of his garage in Pasadena. This  episode was ‘The Yoga Teacher’, where Maron wants to start something with this woman who is also attracted to him. The problem is, he is the type she’s always gone for and she’s trying to evolve to healthier relationships. But since he is the angry type, she invites him to her yoga class. Maron’s assistant thinks this is a great thing, for Maron’s anger issues and because Maron is “puffy.” It’s not Maron’s thing, but he does have an old yoga mat, so he meets the woman there in the morning. She introduces him to the teacher, a yoga-smooth talking alpha male. Eventually, the teacher moves the class to Happy Baby pose. He goes to adjust Maron, pushing on Maron’s feet to get his hips to the floor. Maron protests, but the teacher just leans in harder and harder. Maron farts. “Oopsy,” says the teacher.

The next day, I told my chronic pain shrink, about the synchronicity. Then he got behind me and put the biofeedback pads on my neck.
“Oopsy,” he says.

Clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImaCNWB6dSc
Whole episodes are on Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, etc.

And now for something completely different

At least we’re not dead yet! This is really creepy!

 

 

 

Today’s Gratitudes

1. Surprising my dad at his assisted living home with pics from his French/American grandsons, and his son, my brother, in Paris.

2. Seeing that Daddio is doing well. It was Happy Hour, so they had snacks. I left just before the piano player arrived.

Apothecary

I include here, for your inspection, my fibromyalgia drugs present and past. Present on the left, past (discontinued but saved just in case) on the right. Some are pharmaceuticals and some are herbal or vitamins. These include pills for fibromyalgia/brain/depression, anxiety, pain, insomnia, fatigue, chi movement, hypertension, and the hiatal hernia/nausea that came back while trying to walk with bad leg pain.

My faves are the Resolve herbal pills, to move chi. They usually give me energy, and I feel more balanced for the day.

If you know you’re not going to need a prescription, you can buy mail bags at the pharmacy. You must have each pill in its own prescription bottle, put in as many bottles as will fit in the bag, and put the bag in your mailbox. The postage is included with the cost of the bag.

My favorite therapies are massage/Reiki, acupuncture, and seeing my chronic pain shrink, which/who all help me accept and transmute negative energy into positive.

It will be tres interesting to see how much of the pills can go away once I get my medical marijuana card.

 

How to do medical marijuana

Anybuddy with chronic pain wondering how medical marijuana works in Oregon: My new GP signed off for me for medical marijuana. She gave me the filled-out physician’s form; I need to copy my driver’s license and submit those and the Oregon form I just downloaded.. It takes about a month to receive the card. I don’t have to smoke! Nor eat a dicey amount. She recommended a high CBD oil that you ingest; and for quick pain control, a tincture. Just one drop under the tongue, wait 15 minutes, see if I need more. I’m looking forward to trying it. Otherwise, it’s more pharmaceuticals that can be addictive and damage organs. Much nicer, sounds like. I’ll report back in a month or so.

Meanwhile, I love seeing the government pages, validating the medical marijuana option for pain control and some other chronic probs:
http://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/ChronicDisease/MedicalMarijuanaProgram/Pages/index.aspx

California’s program:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/MMP/Pages/default.aspx

MedicalMarijuanaProgram

www.cdph.ca.gov

The California Department of Public Health’s Medical Marijuana Program (MMP) was specifically established to create a State-authorized medical marijuana identification card (MMIC), along with a registry database for verification of qualified patients and their primary caregivers. Participation by pa…

 

Your state may differ. Check it out if you are in chronic/acute pain.