Figuring Out Why

 So many times we just take what doctors tell us without questioning.  Or, when we do question, we just accept their answer as gold.  While, I really don't believe that doctors would intentionally lead us astray.  However, I am the best advocate for my kids and myself.  I've always just had to read books, articles, find doctors, and push, push, push for my kids and my husband.  This time - it's all about me.  

I am just trying to figure out how some one in the mid-forties gets a cancer that doesn't usually hit some one until their sixties or seventies.   I don't fit any of the kidney cancer criteria.  Is there any connection to my other diagnosis?  What the heck is going on in my gut area??  

I know that I can't fully prevent cancer.  One mutated cell going crazy and multiplying is all that it takes.  There have been plenty of health nuts that have gotten cancer.  Marathon runners. Professional athletes. Vegans.  Keto. You can just go through the categories and cancer has touched everyone.  (thankful - because a marathon runner I will never be!!)  But there has to be something that I can do to heal what ever is going on inside me.  That is where my digging began.  I'm just going to explain the top layer of all of the science.  Honestly I start reading some of the medical studies and it goes over my head pretty quickly.  So I will stick to the basics!  :) 

The word that just kept popping up book after book was inflammation.  Acute Inflammation by itself is a good thing.  It is a natural defense in the body.  It helps to heal and repair damaged tissue.  It helps to fight infections. It kills germs. However, as amazing as the human body is -- Chronic Inflammation is when your body keeps sending those cells even when there is no danger.  Those cells end up damaging your body instead of healing.  Chronic inflammation can damage DNA and affect cell growth which can lead to tumors.  

But it isn't just connected to cancer.  Chronic Inflammation can cause plaque buildup which leads to heart disease.  It also damages arteries that supply blood to the heart. The American Heart Association acknowledges how inflammation can play a part in heart disease.  Rheumatoid Arthritis is caused by inflammation.  It's not the wear and tear of a joint.  I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hands when I was 28.  Recently my CT scan showed arthritis throughout my body. This isn't wear and tear.  It's inflammation.  I wish my doctor would have talked to me about it when I was 28, so I could try to heal my body the past 20 years.  Chronic Inflammation is also connected to Type 2 Diabetes, which I have.  It can disrupt insult signaling pathways which effect glucose metabolism.  It can also lead to weight gain which is connected to Type 2 Diabetes.  Brain inflammation is a large factor in Alzheimer's Disease.  It is connected to beta plaque production which is a characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease.  Having a mother with dementia this makes this more real. I am not wanting my final years to be in the fog of dementia.

If Inflammation is connected to so diseases -- why don't the doctors talk about it?  They cannot without a doubt confirm that inflammation is causing your disease.  Research can connect it to all of those diseases and many others.  But as for your specific disease - There is not a way a doctor can say that inflammation caused it.  I do wish I would have know when I was 28 that inflammation could contribute to it.   So for me, I am going to look into an anti-inflammatory diet to try and heal some of the damage that has happened through the years.  It definitely cannot hurt. I changed my diet last year after my diabetic diagnosis.  Let's see what else I can heal from the inside. 

Food for Thought

 Back in March, when I first went to the doctor, my goal was just to start taking care of me.  I went and got bloodwork.  Found out that I was diabetic and went to the dietitian appointment that happens when your diagnosed.  Protein, protein, protein is of course what is pushed.  I did it and just felt terrible.  I stayed the course for a while thinking my body would adjust. Then, like I always do when I want to figure out something -  I went to the library and checked out several books on diabetes.  I found only two books that went a different direction.  They suggested that a plant based diet regulates blood sugar better.  That your body can digest it so much easier that you don't get the spikes in sugar levels.  

Now, don't get me wrong -- vegan I will never be.  But incorporating a few more vegetarian type meals, that I can do.  So I decided that for breakfast and lunch - it would be less meat.  Which meant that I had to intentionally meal prep.  No more just packing left overs up for lunch the next day. Greek Yogurt, homemade marinara pasta (Brami Protein Pasta) with a side salad, eggs and roasted potatoes for lunch, vegetable fried rice.  My favorite is a small loaded baked potato with a side salad.  Fresh fruit throughout the day.  Intentionally taking care of myself with real food one baby step at a time. Then, my dinner was kids meal size of what ever I'm cooking for everyone. But guess what -- it worked!  In less than a year, my A1C dropped from a 9.5 to a 6.2!  That's in the pre-diabetic range.  I got to lower my medication!

Another thing I did last year as I was changing my diet.  I said to good bye to my sweet tea.  Of course with a 9.5 AIC, I really had to!  😄 I started drinking green tea.  Okay - I agree...the flavor of green tea really has a lot to be desired when your coming from a McAlister's sweet tea.  However, I did like the bottled Lipton Citrus Green Tea.  So I went to Amazon and looked up Green Tea and there were so many flavors.  I weeded out the artificially flavored green teas.  I ended up ordering some citrus, strawberry, and blueberry green teas which I rotate throughout the week.  (Harney & Son's Blueberry Green Tea is my favorite!)  Why switch from black tea to green tea?  The health benefits!  Green tea has antioxidants that reduces blood pressure, cholesterol, and inflammation.  A 2020 study also suggested that green tea is linked with lower chance of cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older adults like Alzheimer's disease. Green tea has also been linked to lower risk of ovarian and lung cancer.  So each day before work, I fill up my 40 oz Stanley filled with ice water and my 30 oz BruMate filled with iced green tea. 

The other big change that I did last year was going through my cookware.  It was hard.  My favorite pan was a large deep chicken fryer that I got at Sam's. There was nothing wrong with it.  Except that it was non-stick.  I only had 2 pans that were stainless steel.  The rest of my cookware had a non-stick coating.

Of course I started looking at new sets, pricing and quality.  I could not afford the new set that I liked.  However, my sons and I like to go to flea markets.  So within a few months, I had nice cookware without a spending a fortune.  There are times that I miss my handy-dandy Sam's fryer.  But studies like the one mentioned in the photo make it a little easier to let it go.  

We all have to make decisions on what is best for you.  All of our situations are different.  Just take care of yourself.  No one is going to do it for you.  Your health is important.  Food is medicine.  The vitamins and minerals in food can start to heal the damage you've already done.  You just have to start.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Thinking about what's coming ahead does tend to make me nervous.  The unknowns.  The what ifs.  All of the pieces that have to come together.  Insurance...time off...recovery time...It really was SO much easier when I was on the other side of the hospital bed.  I have always been the one on in the waiting chair beside the bed. It was always my job to worry about all of that and figure out how to pay the bills.  Now, I have to worry about that AND be in the hospital bed.  I keep praying for God to work out all of the details.  For His hands to be in everything -- All of the details.   I can then let it go...for a while.  But the worry comes creeping back in.

The mind keeps going down every rabbit hole.  I have an EKG and heart scans coming up before surgery.  What if they find something?  The first CT scan I went in for was supposed to confirm a hernia.  Instead she called me and told me I needed to come in that day.  She then literally handed me a post-it note full of things to talk about because she didn't want to miss anything.  I don't know if I could do another post-it note full of bad news.  Honestly, it wouldn't even have to be a list on a post-it. 

 Health things are just stressful and can be scary.  We all know that.  And I have definitely taken my health for granted.  Don't get me wrong -- after being married to Kent with all of his health issues -- my health and my kids' health is something that I thank God for every single night.  And the Lord knows that it's not just something that I'm saying.  I mean it with every fiber of me.  I know that things could be so much worse.  I have watched my husband take medication after medication. Doctor appointment after doctor appointment.  After seeing my husband's health get worse and change the person he was, our health is on my top things I thankful for.  

Yet here I am.  Thanking God every night for the past 10 years or so does not change the place I am in right now. I am still the person that got a list of things wrongs with her in October.  I am still the person that was told she has cancer right before Thanksgiving.  And to be honest -- it has not changed me thanking God for our health every night either.  I am so thankful that God let the doctors find it while it's small and has not spread.  Praise God!

 But here I am  --  I am nervous for all of the details to work out. Bills, insurance, and so many days off. So much is out of my hands.  And the things I do have control over - I'm scared I messed them up.  When my mind goes down that rabbit hole, my stomach ends up in knots.  So I pray.  What else can I do?  I stress and I worry.  At times I can make myself sick.  I know those moments didn't accomplish anything.  But the mind still goes there.  So I pray.  He has brought me this far.  I wish I could just leave it at His feet and not go back there again.  But my mind will come back to those thoughts and worries.  Though the good stuff, bad stuff, and all the in-betweens - I pray.