Welcome! I'm starting this blog at the suggestion of my friend Karen - with the assumption that I'll have at least one reader! HA! I figure if I am journaling/blogging then I have to stay accountable to this path of wellness that I'm on.
I'm on a path of wellness because I have been very sick for the last year. I've been diagnosed with Neurosarcoidosis an autoimmune disorder for which there is no cure and no know cause. I have a lesion (growth) in my brain near my brain stem that is pressing on my Trigeminal Nerve which has caused an unbelievable headache/head pain for more than a year. Literally every day for the last year I have had some sort of headache on the pain scale between a 4 and a 9. Always in the same spot and no amount of pain medication does anything for it -in fact they won't prescribe it to me since that tends to re-bound the headaches.
Perhaps I'll write later on my journey over the past year with all of the testing and medications I've been on but at this point conventional treatment of Prednisone hasn't worked for me. In an effort to leave no stone unturned, I took the advice of my Mom and went to see a Holistic MD who helped a friend of ours. He suggested I might have Leaky Gut Syndrome (and at this point I'm no longer surprised that there is something called Leaky Gut as I was actually tested for Cat Scratch Fever) and explained that overtime eating these foods that are common allergens confuses the immune system and can lead to things like autoimmune disorders. I had already heard something similar from our Chiropractor who explained that on a cellular level our body doesn't need anything more than the nuts and berries we ate as cavemen (this is a very abbreviated version of her talk it was very informative and I learned quite a bit).
So what are common allergens? Gluten, Soy, Dairy (especially cows Milk), and Wheat. I also shouldn't have Corn, Potatoes, Lunch meat (due to the Gluten), Beef, Peanuts, and Oranges. Along with the usual listing of refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup on any diet plan.
To some this might have been really shocking but I felt I was already halfway there. I had started following Weight Watchers already and had lost 8 lbs so I was already eating lots of lettuce and vegetables and fruit. So I took what the Doc had to say along with the list of supplements I should be taking and brought them with me to see my Sarcoidosis specialist at the University of Chicago - We'll call her Dr. S.
Dr. S had put me on an immunosuppresant and a steroid and for the four days I was on it my headache went away - instead I had a 103.5 fever and a NASTY cold sore. She was so concerned she actually cultured it and took my blood levels in the office. She told me I had to come off the medication and started to discuss chemotherapy (which in my plan is our last resort). I mentioned to her this Immune boosting diet and the Holistic doctor and she immediately agreed this was a better way to go. Boost my immune system naturally and in 6 weeks try the drug again to see if I can handle it. She asked me what changed and I told her "I joined my own team."
I have a team of doctors and professionals (6) who I see on a regular basis to try and deal with this illness and its complications. And while I might have been coordinating the "Team" it took a while for me to get healthy enough to feel like I could choose to help them with my care. I was a compliant patient but now I'm an active participant. Wellness is a choice as our Chiropractor says and I'm choosing to help these doctors make me well again because quite frankly living this way isn't the life I imagined nor one I'm willing to settle for.
So I'm choosing to RESTORE my body to wellness and I'm going to share my STORY with you. I'm not promising that I won't fall off the allergen free wagon from time to time but perhaps if you've known someone like me (or know me) it will help you to understand what its like to be chronically ill.
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