Moving Forward . . .

I know that some of you are as disappointed as I am happy this morning with the results of our Presidential election.  Because it's no secret that I'm very happy with the outcome of the election.  However, I wrote this to multiple friends of mine this morning, and thought I would share it here: 

"It is my great hope that both parties will work together for the next four years instead of fighting and blocking as they both have for the past four. That we can be good and close friends when we are so very different from each other is very clear evidence that it's possible."

I'm moving forward in another area today, too.  My last post was sad.  Thank you for your support  :-)

There is an update.

I do have an appointment on Thursday with my podiatrist, but due to so many bizarre things happening to me in such short order over the weekend, my own doctor saw me on Monday.  He thinks the ocular migraine was another one-off.  And, although I had an x-ray to be sure, the general consensus is that my foot is not fractured, rather, the joints of my foot are inflamed.

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation.  Asthma is inflammation.  My sore tailbone was diagnosed as inflammation.  My very sore left knee likely has bursitis (which is, you guessed it, inflammation).  He checked all my joints - and shoulder and elbows also have it to some degree as well.

I've been educating myself further ever since my appointment on Monday, and inflammation of the type I seem to have is very often caused by what we eat.  I few years ago I experienced sore joints after eating too much sugar . . . and I even wrote about it earlier this year. I can't run away from it any longer.

I didn't pay very good attention, I guess, but all the reading I've done in just the past two days is pretty clear.  And I did a little experimenting with foods yesterday afternoon and last night to see how I might feel today - and it's so obviously clear by this morning that I'm going to have to make some major changes in my lifestyle in terms of what I eat, as I am in more pain again today in all problem areas, even with taking my anti-inflammatory as directed by the doc.

Books are ordered, some foods are headed out of my kitchen in the trash, and I'm looking at processing the change that is before me.  One of the things I learned from Joan Anderson, is that we all must process the grief that is partner to change.

What I am facing is huge for me.

Big Changes.

I believe I must change what I eat - if I don't, I will likely be in some kind of pain for the rest of my life.  If the tradeoff for eating my Friday cherry danish is that I'm in pain, I'm not willing to do that anymore.  I'm going to have to give up a way of eating that - although it tastes good - is no longer serving me.  And yes, it seems ridiculous to think that one would grieve for a sweet roll, but it's not just sweet rolls - it's majorly processed foods.  It's the sugar in my tea.  It's bread (at least for awhile).  It's candy.  It's cupcakes.  It's bacon (I almost forgot that makes me hurt).  It's likely most dairy.  It's likely most red meat.

Plenty of people have far worse things happen to them, though.  It's not like I'm diabetic or have heart disease or high blood pressure.

It could be a lot worse.  Seriously.  I walked away from cigarettes.  Once I realized that chocolate was making me sick, I walked away from it.  I walked away from drinking diet pop.  All of these things I did cold turkey.  And oh yeah, I can't eat turkey (poultry) anymore either.  I know how to take care of myself and I know that I will be able to walk away from the things that are likely causing this flood of inflammation throughout my body.   And once I learn to manage my stress levels better, I think I'll be in like Flynn.

Keep a good thought for me, OK? because drinking my tea without sugar is going to be bizarre :-)

Even so, there is good news in all this.  Yes, really  :-)  You didn't think I could stay down in the dumps forever, did you?  Miss Positive Energy?

First, the good news is that I don't have arthritis.  The doc was very clear about that.  Inflammation and arthritis are often mentioned in the same breath, but having inflammation does not necessary mean that one has arthritis.  This is actually REALLY good news.  My mom had three different kinds of arthritis and my grandmother also had it.  A number of my cousins have it and they are younger than I am.  I would like to avoid it, thank you very much.

Second, the good news is that by following an anti-inflammatory way of eating, I think I'm going to be bone thin pretty quickly . . . :-D 

So here we go, the country and me, moving forward together . . .

Comments

candy said…
First of all, wow, sorry to hear about all the inflammation. If it were happening to me, this would be a classic MSG attack. But that's me. Secondly, what makes me sad is the HATE in this country. The fact that people put labels on other people and then fantasize about gunning them down. And, no, I'm not against guns. But that's what truly makes me sad. I keep thinking, what kind of America am I bringing my husband to?
Michelle said…
Good for you for recognizing the changes that can make you feel better, and courage to you to make them.

I'm afraid that the members of both parties working together is an impossible dream, although I can hope. Too many are so entrenched, wanting the other side to look bad at all costs, that they will sell our country down the river rather than work together for its good. SO SAD!
Linda said…
I think that second terms for presidents are often their most productive ones, so I have hope that our Congress and executive branches can work well together. The folks that feel they've "lost" will need a bit of time to grieve and come to terms with the reality, but once they do they will get moving again. I hope we all can find common areas on which to focus and move forward.

As for your inflammation issues, I'm glad you're finding a way forward to dealing with them. I've read *a lot* about food and how it interacts with our bodies, and one thing I've concluded is that there is no one right way for everyone. You'll figure out what works best for your body eventually. Since there are so many different experiences and differing scientific date chronicled online, I hope you take a conservative approach first and start eliminating stuff bit by bit to find the right combo for you. If you go whole hog now by eliminating all sugar, red meat, grains, dairy, etc. you'll not know which things are your biggest triggers and which are the ones that you can treat yourself to occasionally, right? Plus such an approach is often overwhelming. Maybe you want to start with eliminating sugar and grain-based stuff first (since they act so similarly in the body), then after a few weeks move on to dairy or red meat. If you're really suffering, though, and need immediate relief that Eat to Live approach that Rachael did seems to clean up people's bodies. The hard part with it is eating out anywhere and figuring out when/how to introduce certain foods back into one's diet.

P.S. Anyone else having issues with comments? If I succeed in getting this comment posted it's because I've entered Captcha at least three times!
A :-) said…
Linda - I'm not familiar with Captcha, but no one else has said they are having trouble commenting.

Yes, I'm going through the kitchen now to see what I can toss that might be full of sugar. Because I can't eat poultry, I'm not giving up red meat totally, but will likely limit it for awhile. There are things I can eat, and I'm planning a trip to the Jewel later this evening. Foot is definitely feeling better after an anti-inflammatory.
Amy said…
This sucks. But I am glad you are taking steps to make it better. It is surprising how much what we eat effects us. Let me know how it's going. Also what books did you order? I'm interested in all things
Amy said…
Food and health related these days. Sorry for the split message but I don't know what happen to the rest of the original.

And I did have to enter the capcha thingy twice.
A :-) said…
Oh - now I know what you guys mean with the Captcha :-D I'm sorry there is a problem with it. I don't have any control over it - Blogger does.

And Amy - I got Crazy Sexy Kitchen, which has a section on inflammation; The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book, and Win the War Within. I'll let you know how I like them.
Michelle said…
Well, you COULD get rid of the word verification feature; I did, to make commenting easier for my readers.
Sue said…
It is so nice to see that your country is taking more interest in their government and voting. Here in Australia it is compulsory to vote, otherwise we are fined. I think Obama and the other party need to work together to sort out all the debt as that is the biggest problem isnt it. Sorry to hear about your inflammation. I hope the diet with no sugar works out for you. Sugar is in virtually everything that is processed and also if you stop eating sugar you will lose weight too so it is a double bonus!
A :-) said…
Michelle - thanks for that tip!

Sue - yes, I'm figuring I should be smaller pretty soon :-D

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