Next steps….

So I’m looking back, remembering what I did after that first step of eating mostly Chicken Soup for three weeks. I don’t need to revisit this for my own health…I just figured it was a good thing to go back over those steps, in case anyone is needing some help in where to start.

After the clean-out of Chicken Soup, I did a few things that helped me tremendously. The first was to start a food/symptom journal. It was just a little notebook that, every day, I would write every single little thing I ate, how much, and how it was cooked. No matter how trivial, I wrote it down. I also kept track of BM’s through the day, their consistency, and any other symptoms like gas or cramping. I did this for the first year before I really felt I had a handle on what I could/couldn’t eat at this point in my journey. By using a food journal I was able to track when I had a bad reaction to something and pinpoint what it was that caused the problem. Sometimes a problem would manifest itself within the first couple of hours. But at other times it would manifest days later, and there simply was no way I could remember what I had to eat 3 days prior, and all the time in between, that might have caused a problem! With the food journal, it also kept my brain always conscious of the food I was eating, and how it was affecting me. It put it in the forefront of my brain, so I was always thinking of it. Not ideal….to always have to think of your food. But it worked for that time until I knew what was safe and wasn’t.

The other thing I did, as I mentioned in a previous post, was to only try one new item every 4-7 days. Food can take, from what I understand, a couple days to work it’s way through your body, and so by being very slow and cautious, I was able to see what I could tolerate. When I tried a new food I also would not eat too much of it at one sitting until I knew IF I could eat it, HOW it needed to prepared for me to digest it well, and HOW MUCH I could tolerate. Once I got a handle on the foods (which took most of the first year) I started to introduce new spices. A few at first, and then once I realized I could tolerate pretty much the normal spices, I stopped worrying about it. Now, almost 2 1/2 years later, I know what my “safe” foods are that I can always go back to if I’m having problems. I can also branch out a bit, if I have the time, and try new stuff.

My diet is still pretty boring, and I wish all the time I could have more time to be creative. And I do miss certain foods….a lot. But….I’m just glad I was able to take it very slow and methodical those for 18 months until I had a good grasp on what it meant to live with this disease, not taking drugs to mask the symptoms, but changing my diet to GET RID of the symptoms.

 

Where to begin?

After hearing of another person close to me being diagnosed with a digestive condition, I thought back to how I began this journey to healing foods and eating. In reality, it began with the GI doctor telling me, in my sedated-haze, that diet plays no role in Crohn’s. I had to ask him that same question 3 times, because what he was telling me just didn’t make sense. How could diet NOT play a role in how your body is dealing with foods? So, I took what he was telling me (immune suppressing drugs and steroids were the possible treatment, with no guarantee they would work), and went the opposite direction.

First, I dug into Jordan Rubin’s story of how he dealt with Crohn’s through supplements and foods. I believe it was his protocol that led me to take everything, and I mean just about everything, out of my diet for 3 weeks straight. I made this Chicken Soup , and ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also had goat’s milk yogurt, Keifer milk, and lots of water. That’s it. For 3 weeks. Yes, it got boring. But it was what my body needed. With the extreme amount of inflammation that was in my gut, taking everything out and just eating easy to digest foods gave my gut a break. It allowed my system to rest, and reset. In essence, I detoxed myself from all the junk, preservatives, toxins, etc. that were running around in me. And all the natural, good-for-you ingredients in the soup helped calm the inflammation down to a point where I could build upon.

From the 3 weeks of chicken soup, I slowly began to add new foods. I would try a new food about once a week. I would cook it very soft, and not try too much. If I didn’t have a bad reaction (gas, cramps, diarrhea), then I would put it in my “safe” list. If I did have symptoms, I put it in my “no-go” list, where it sat off-limits for 6 months or so, where I might or might not try it again. In this way, I was able to work from the ground up, and create my diet that worked for me and my gut.

Looking back, I really didn’t know what I was doing in just eating the chicken soup, but it really was the best thing. If I would have tried anything else in terms of diet control, I would have been guessing each and every time if it was this spice, or that meat, or that vegetable. With literally introducing even a new spice, and that’s it, I was truly able to nail-down what I can and cannot eat.

That’s about it. That’s where I started. I keep making the Chicken Soup. I usually always have a few quarts frozen in the freezer, ready to thaw and eat. If I hear of someone being sick, I try to get them some of the soup. No, I don’t think it’s a miracle cure. I just believe in what it did for me, in letting the system rest so it can recover.

Plus, it’s just a really good, simply, soup.

 

Vacation Food

We recently went on a 5 day vacation, and I had pretty good success with foods while gone from my home kitchen. Thankfully, I knew we would be staying in a condo with a full kitchen, so I knew that I could cook, once there. I’ve been able to really dial-in this past year as to how to travel with Crohn’s, and how to eat while gone in a way that does not seriously compromise all the hard work I’ve done.

First, when I travel TO somewhere, I usually have fresh fruit (a banana or an apple, which I can tolerate raw), granola bars, bakes goods that I can snack on, madjool dates, and nuts. With this combination, I can usually do just fine in the car, away from prepared food, for up to a day. If I can, I’ll bring some chicken just to give an added protein boost. And, wherever I am going, I know to prepare a BIG meal once I get there, knowing that I will be hungry! The fruits and nuts are great for me, but they just don’t replace a hot meal.

I’ve learned that when I travel, breakfast is the most important meal. I can generally get eggs cooked my way at any restaurant with lots of veggies and a side of fruit. If I’m in a location where I can cook, I do the same thing. Doing this for breakfast sets me up very well for the rest of the day. If I’m able to do a big breakfast, I can usually go light on lunch, since lunch-time is when we are generally out and about, and lunch at a restaurant can be sketchy for me. I’ll carry fresh fruit and granola bars if we are out exploring, which will generally sustain me until dinner.

Dinner is the other big meal I try to eat while on vacation. At a restaurant, I can order cooked veggies and usually some sort of meat with no sauce and minimal seasonings. Since I can eat fresh fruit, I’ll typically get a side of that as well. If I am home, or in a location where I can cook, I can make a normal meal for myself consisting of meat, fresh or cooked fruit, and veggies. This gets me through the rest of the day.

The one thing I miss while on vacation is my yogurt, and there is simply no way to replace that. If I’m traveling to family, I’ll often take a small amount with me. But if not, I just usually can’t take it. The yogurt serves two very important functions for me while on vacation: One, it continues to put the good flora back in my gut (basically, gets the good bacteria in there so the bad guys don’t take over again). Two, it serves as a snack/treat before bed. Often when on vacation, I eat to sustain, but not for taste and fulfillment. It’s just a matter of getting fuel in my body while gone, and not about it being really good or filling. The yogurt and frozen blueberries that I eat while at home is a treat each night that I savor. If I don’t have it while on vacation, I might be more tempted to cheat, which is really not good for me.

On this vacation, I was able to eat to sustain me, but once I got home I was really hungry. I made eggs and Almond Crisp once I got home, just to give me something that tasted REALLY good to me, and felt like it would be filling. I did cheat some on this trip….which I need to keep trying to curb. It doesn’t hurt me in the immediate, but will add up if I continue to do it. Basically, I had some bread at The Old Spaghetti Factory, and some breaded chicken. I think I did pretty good the rest of the time. Now that I’m home, I trying to reset, again. I don’t like how my body is acting these days. I can tell when the inflammation is up, and when things just are not as good as they could be. I believe that is directly related to my diet, and so….off to fixing my diet again I go!!!

 

IV

Good grief….can’t my body just figure this stuff out? Two IV’s ago I had this massive dose of energy, so much that I felt I my body couldn’t keep up with how fast my insides were going. This time, I not only DIDN’T have energy, I had a huge crash just a few short hours after the IV. I felt crushed with how tired I felt, inside and out. Then, my joints started to ache. I know from past experience that when my inflammation is really up, I start to feel it in my joints. First, my right knee, then, if I don’t catch it and get some Tylenol, it goes to the other knee, my hips and last night, even to my right shoulder. Ugh!!! I’ll have to call the doctor and report these changes, and make sure we had the right mix. With the energy level, it could be that my body is ready to move past 50% of dosing strength in these IV’s. That would be cool. With the joint pain? I’m not sure if that was related to the IV, but I can’t think of much that I ate that would have caused a flare-up of inflammation. Hmmmm…..

At least I didn’t get a headache from this IV. Though….we might have figured out a connection. For two IV’s back in the Fall, I had a glass of wine the night I got the infusion. And then I would get a headache (I don’t normally get headaches with a glass of wine). When I mentioned it to the doctors last time, they both said the wine could be a trigger, because of the sulfites in it. I remember, when first diagnosed, that I looked up sulfites and why I should stay away from them. But now, I can’t remember why. I’ll have to look it up again, just to refresh my memory. Anyway….for the last two IV’s I have not had a glass of wine anywhere close to the infusion, and that seems to be helping. Last night I had just a nibble of a headache, but then it was gone in a flash. If we have the headaches taken care of, I might be able to up the dosage, and then maybe even spread these out a bit. I don’t like being tied to a chair for an hour every 3 weeks with a needle in my arm. I’ve got stuff to do!!!

 

Courage

At dinner the other night I asked my kiddos, almost 8 years old and 9, what they thought of when I said the word “courage”? We pray for courage all the time, but I wanted to get a grasp of their understanding of what the word means. I loved their answers….and the surprise I realized later.

They both said, initially, that courage was standing up to things and not running away. They are in a public school, and so their thoughts turn to standing up to bullies, or speaking the truth when something is going wrong instead of being quiet.

But what surprised me is that neither one of them said that courage was a lack of fear. As a child, I would think that “fear” and “courage” would be in the same sentence. Instead, when I probed a little further, they both said that you can have courage in life to face the hard things because of the belief that God is on your side, and he will take care of you. So in essence, you don’t NEED to fear, because God is bigger than it all!

YES!!!

I love that both of my kids, at such a young age, understand the reality that God loves them so deeply that He will take care of them, no matter what they face. I love that they can have that kind of courageous faith to believe what the Word of God says, and believe that He is right there with them. This deep seeded strength is what I have wanted for years, as I have prayed over them nightly for courage. I want them to stand strong, no matter what comes in life, knowing that with God on your side, all things are possible. I think they have a good start on this.

The last thing we discussed was this question that I posed to them: Being that Jesus was fully God AND fully human, did he feel fear before he went to the cross? NO…my kiddos said. When I asked them why, this is what they said: “He was doing what he knew he was destined to do. When you are being who God has made you to be, there is no need to fear. You can be full of courage in ANY situation because God is with you.”

Out of the mouths of babes….

AMEN!

 

Reset…

Okay, the holiday’s are over, life is back to normal. It is time to reset. I’ve had a ton of words running through my head over the past month that I’ve wanted to blog on, but just didn’t have the time or energy. I’m taking this opportunity to tell, mostly myself, that it’s time to start writing again.

There is a ton going on in our life that I want to write about. So many steps forward. In a couple of years my husband and I will be 40, and yet we have had a re-birth of our lives this past year. I’m looking forward to writing about that journey more, and about where it is in the present, and looks like it could be in the future. Pretty cool stuff, if not a bit scary at times…..

I will also continue to blog about this journey with Crohn’s, although those posts are pretty slim these days. Things continue to be about the same, and so I don’t want to bore people with posts on health updates that continually say the same thing. Still, when things happen, I will try to be diligent to write about them. I’m finding more people who are saying no to the major drugs to treat this disease, and doing pretty good using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet like myself in order to gain some control. I think it’s important for us that have gone “off the grid” medically to document, however we can, how this disease is helped (or hurt) by alternative medicine. (I put in the “hurt” part because not every disease can be treated naturally, I believe, and there are some treatments out there that could actually harm a person if not done appropriately or with correct supervision by a professional.) There is legitimacy to the drugs that are out there, but I think a broader view of treating diseases is needed. Instead of being looked at like a crazy person when someone mentions treating a disease with something other than a manufactured drug, I hope that the person would be at least listened to, and not scorned or laughed at. So….I will continue to write about this disease, and how it’s is progressing/regressing without medicine.

All in all, it’s a good time in our lives. I look forward to getting back to sharing it with you. Stay tuned!

 

Bug!!!

Oh, I have never wished I had a stomach bug more than i did last night!!! Short story…I ended up in the bathroom for hours with liquid coming out of both ends. A couple times I had pretty bad stomach cramps, shaking, dizziness, and extreme racing heart. I ended up sleeping on the floor for a time, in the bathroom, knowing that I shouldn’t go far.

Why, you might ask, did I wish it was “just” a stomach bug? Because with a stomach bug I know it will end…eventually. But as I sat there last night, I had the terrifying thought that this could be the start of a bad Crohn’s flare. The thing with a flare up of Crohn’s is that you never know how long it will last, or how bad it will get. Yuck!

Thankfully, this does just seem to be the bug that is going around. It lasted for just a few hours. I was able to sleep. My body is tired today and my stomach is tender. But….those are all things I would expect from a stomach bug. Regardless, I will be eating soft foods and chicken soup for a few days. My body fought off this bug pretty well, but I need to do my part to help it heal.

Oh, one last thing. It seems a bit funny now, as I look back at last night. But in all honesty, there is only one way I got through those hours. I believe in the power of speaking scripture over your life and situation. Last night I could only think of one thing, and I said it over and over and over again. Through the anxiety, the yuck coming out, and the pain that was within, I just kept saying the verse from Psalm 27: “I will remain confident in this…..I WILL see the goodness of the Lord!!!”

 

Turbo!!!!!

I’m always amazed at my energy level after getting an IV drip.  It’s like a caffeine rush, but without the jitters.  I wonder…is this just a normal amount of energy that a normal, healthy person usually has?  For me, it’s like my body wants to run everywhere, and never get tired, and not stop for hours.  Typing here, I keep making mistakes because my hands can’t type as fast as my brain is going.    It’s a good feeling, trust me!  I like feeling that I have the energy to tackle the laundry, dishes, kids, homework, work, husband, etc. and not have to constantly tap in to my reserves of energy to do it.  Take these past two days for instance:  I was a substitute teacher in a Life Skills class for two days.  I’ve come to love and appreciate these special kids for who they are and what they can do.  But….it takes a ton of energy.  Keeping them on task, watching out for the physical attacks that can come when one of them gets angry, watching for those that like to run away or touch everything when they shouldn’t, cleaning after eating, potty breaks/accidents, and on it goes.  There is a constant stream of things and kids that need attention when working in these classes.  Normally, the day after (which is today) I would be crushed with tiredness.  Not today!  I had the IV, and I’m feeling like I can actually get the huge pile of laundry and dishes done, as well as possibly give my own two kiddos the piano lesson that we’ve been needing to do for 2 weeks.  Having the IV simply means……that I can be me again, if only for a day.

The crash will come from this, probably tonight or tomorrow.  It always does.  My body is messed up/injured enough inside that the energy won’t stay for long.  But that’s okay.  I’ll take what I can get…..

On the technical note…..we backed the dosage back down to 50% strength.  3 weeks ago we bumped it up just a few percentage points, and I got headaches again.  We don’t want that, so back down we go to a level we know I can handle.  I really wish my body could tolerate more.  I really want to be getting the full dosage of these good things each time.  But for now, I guess I’ll just appreciate what I am able to do, and move on with life. 

Oh….we took blood today.  My thyroid antibodies were up 3 months ago, meaning the Hashimoto’s was flared up and attacking again.  We also tested for white blood cells, which I guess were low last time.  Hopefully everything will look good and things will be getting back to normal.  I’ll let you know!!!

 

Mexi- oh no!!!

Okay, silly title.  But sitting here at a bit before midnight, unable to sleep, I needed some humor.  We went out to a Mexican restaurant for the first time in I don’t know how long today.  I love Mexican food, and have missed it a ton these past two years.  Well, I’m not missing it now!

I will admit that, having passed two years with Crohn’s and on the SCD diet, I’ve slipped a bit.  I’ve taken up the attitude that “a little won’t hurt me.”  Especially this past week, with Thanksgiving, my determination to stay strong and stay away from foods I am pretty certain are not good for me has weakened.  I guess it’s a good thing that my system is in rebellion.  Maybe it will get me back on track, like I’ve been for two years.  Fanatical almost at times with how strong I was in staying the course.  But today, it’s just showed me that this disease is still here, still lurking, and I need to be very diligent….still.

My body aches.  It almost feels like arthritis type of pain, not flu-like.  It’s in the joints of my knees and hips.  Lying down is not very comfortable, so trying to sleep wasn’t working.  This is way off from normal for me.  I don’t have aches and pains.  I have a headache….I’ve had a lot more of them since I’ve been cheating these past 3 weeks.  My stomach hurts a bit.  The gurgles have calmed down, but there is a dull ache in the lower abs.  This I have felt a few times in the past, and it is a typical sign that something is not right.  Crampy…that’s a good word.  And I don’t get cramps…….things just don’t feel right.

What did I eat?  I ate probably 1/2 a tortilla chip with about 1/2 teaspoon refried beans and salsa.  Mark had shrimp fajitas, so I thought I could have just some of the shrimp and veggie mixture…..no tortillas.  I had like 3 shrimp and 1/3 cup of the veggies.  A fork-ful of spanish rice and refried beans.  I used to love just that….with chips or tortillas.  Since I was a kid that’s what I always went towards.  That’s about it.  Of course, they cook the fajitas in their own special sauce.  That I KNOW wasn’t okay, but again, I thought it would be okay with just a small amount.  Apparently not.  That’s all I ate.  Really.  Ugh…….

Guess I’ll go take a Tylenol and try to lay down again.  I was just about asleep, and then my dog decided he needed to go outside.  Wonderful…….

At least my family room has been decorated for Christmas…..in my head.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have enough energy to do it for real……..

Sigh……..sometimes, I just miss being able to eat without fear.

 

 

Garlic Herb Crackers

A staple in my house is this recipe, which is for crackers made with almonds (I cannot eat any store-bought crackers).  This works great for me when I need a crunchy, salty treat.  I’ve also used these for taco night, pizza night, a quick snack with almond butter and honey, and a bunch of other things.  I love it that they are so versatile!!!  My husband also loves them, and my kids clamor for them whenever I make them.  A win-win recipe, for sure!

So last night my daughter mentioned garlic bread.  Since I cannot have your typical garlic bread, I decided to take my basic Quick Cracker recipe and modify it to see if I could get a garlicky-bread flavor.  I added some fresh parsley to it, but you could add whatever herb you want to mix the flavor up a bit.  I loved this version, though my husband likes them the normal way (he likes them simple, which just butter on top!).

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 cup almonds, ground up (it’s okay if they are not ground fine)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is great for the basic recipe…it blends in with everything)
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves garlic, put through that little garlic tool that gets the juice out
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely cut up
• 1 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

Simply add everything together and mix well.  Then lay out a sheet of parchment paper cut to the size of your rectangle cookie sheet.  Put the mixture on the paper, then put another sheet of parchment paper on top.  Take a rolling pin and roll the mixture until it is pretty thin, but even, and is about the same size as the cookie sheet.  Take the top sheet of parchment paper off, place the other one with the rolled out mixture on it onto the cookie sheet, and pop it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.  Check on it at 10 minutes.  You want the edges to be turning a good brown, so bake for another 2-3 minutes until they are brown and the middle looked slightly less brown.  Be careful though as this can get overdone easily, and isn’t as tasty.  If you undercook it, the crackers simply won’t be as crunchy.

 

Happy Birthday!!!

No, it’s NOT the day I was born onto this earth!  Yesterday was the date of 2 years living with Crohn’s.  I at first wanted to title this “Happy Anniversary!” but decided on Happy Birthday instead.  Why, you might ask?  Well, a few reasons……

Even though two years ago I was given a diagnosis of a disease that would change such a fundamental part of my life- eating- this is an occasion to celebrate.  For two years I’ve relied on a strength beyond me to maintain a way of life that has changed the course of this disease.  I went against what the doctors said I needed to do in order to live with this disease.  They said steroids and immunosuppresants.  They said I would be on these powerful drugs for the rest of my life, living each day/week/month/year just hoping that a serious flare would not happen.  They said that, in the course of this disease, I would likely need more and more powerful drugs as the years went on, and would most likely end up having surgery, multiple times, to take out areas of my colon.  At 35, I was given a diagnosis of not a fatal disease that would kill me in a short amount of time, but was a slow disease that would erode my body, and my way of life.

Um….no.

What they said didn’t sit well with me.  I didn’t believe that diet played NO role in this disease.  I also believed that God was guiding me on a different path.  I also KNEW that the only way I would get through these first moments, and years, would be His strength and determination inside of me.

So, yes, I say “Happy Birthday!” to me!  I celebrate not the disease, but the LIFE that I have found in living with this disease.  I don’t believe, as a child of God, that He wants me sick, but I do believe that He will use these opportunities to teach us more about Him, and about ourselves.  As I rely more and more upon Him, even in the simple things of life such as pooping , I find more and more how He is with me, and always has been.

Happy Birthday to me, to this disease, to this….opportunity to show people who is with me, each and every day.

 

IV #3

Well rats.  This is the third IV I’ve had since being able to get back on them.  Last year I stopped because of money, and headaches that they were giving me.  This time we bumped up the dosage just a titch, and I woke up with a headache in the middle of the night.  It’s still here.  Not as bad as what a full dose would give me, but I’m still disappointed that it’s here.  It tells me that my body is still not tolerating something in the IV’s, which stinks.  There is so much in them that my body could really use to keep everything under control, that I was hoping not to have any bad reactions.  Stink……

Ah well…the headache should be gone by tonight, if the past is any indication.  I just called the doctor to tell them about this complication, so that when I get my next IV in 3 weeks we can dial the dose back to 1/2, or just be aware and watch it.  I’ll also get my blood drawn on that day to do thyroid tests, which I’m excited about.  I want to see if these IV’s have actually calmed the little buggers down that have been attacking me these past few months…..

 

Busy eating is not good….

These past couple of days have been very, very busy.  The one thing I find most challenging in times like these in dealing with Crohn’s is what to eat when I’m on the go.  Most often I will have a granola bar and fresh fruit handy that I can grab and go.  But there are times, like this week, where there seems to be nothing I can eat.  I’m not great at pre-cooking food to take along, and pre-thinking what I will need for the coming few days.  So…..often times I just don’t eat if there is nothing safe.  Yuck….I don’t like being hungry.

I also don’t like how, since I’ve been so good for almost 2 years, it feels like it’s easier to slip and eat something I shouldn’t.  Especially when I’m really  hungry….it’s much harder to say no.  Take for instance all the kids’ Halloween candy.  It’s there…calling me.  I know I love it.  I know that it doesn’t necessarily love my gut.  I resisted, for the most part.  But even at that I’ve eaten more candy this week than in the past 2 years combined.  Thankfully it has not been very bad on my system.  That is NOT to say that, while on SCD, you can eat more candy.  I just happened to slip this week and have not had that bad of results.  I will keep telling myself though that I need to be careful.  I know that I can’t shut off my sweet tooth and cravings for baked goods very well, and know that if I give myself an inch, soon I’ll be taking the whole rope.  Then…well, life might not feel so good for a time!

Anyway….I’m taking some time to take care of me this morning.  The sink is overflowing with dishes.  The family needs clean clothes.  The house is a mess.  But…..I need some time for me.  I might make some portable foods for me to take this weekend, since the busyness continues for the next couple of days.  I think I’ve pushed my system about as far as I can push it, and need to just be a bit more aware and rein things in.  I’m not feeling any particular side-effects of the past few days.  I just know my body, and know I need to listen a bit more closely right now in order to avoid the things I don’t want to happen……

 

Golly….

As I approach 2 years of dealing with Crohn’s sans major medicine/drugs, I’ve realized that my blogging has dropped off from how often I was blogging through the early stages of this journey.  It’s not that I don’t have things to say…..nope, that’s not it!  I guess that, well….things are going pretty good.  My early journey held a lot of test results and daily progress reports.  That’s what dealing with a disease like this does for you!  You take each day as it comes, and don’t worry about the future.  Now, things are pretty level, so I don’t need to tell you as much of what’s going on.  I keep having the occasional gas or cramping that hurts, but that’s probably once a week or less at this point.  I’ve branched out and eaten more chocolate lately (OMG!!!), which IS NOT legal on the SCD diet.  I am a confessed chocoholic though, and so have delighted in the fact that I can ingest small amounts every now and then.  As things still get better, I’m tempted more so by the things I cannot have.  Just last night I was soooooooo craving a simple piece of toasted wheat bread with butter.  I did not give in, though I may have to go bake some almond-flour bread soon to make up for it.    I understand the magnitude that if I fall off the rigidity of my diet, things could go dramatically wrong in ways I have no desire to experience.  That is not a fear that drives me….it’s just common sense.  Stay away from the things that don’t work for you!!!

Anyway…..things are pretty good, if quiet.  For those of you following our financial journey….I’ll blog on that sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Cool stuff is happening. 

Thanks for reading!

 

Turkey Chili

It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve had Chili, and with the weather turning cold, I just had to try!  I know it’s a pretty simple thing…to make chili.  But when dealing with Crohn’s, or other digestive disorders, you have to be careful with every new recipe you try, and usually have to modify it to some extent in order to make it work.  After taking an online recipe and tweaking it, I will say that I ended up having a great big batch of yummy chili goodness!!!  I didn’t mean to make as big of a pot as I did, but that’s fine…..I’ll just freeze a bunch of it in single servings and save it for later this winter. 

I wanted beans in my recipe, and since I can’t do canned beans, I went to the store and bought a handful of white beans, black beans, and kidney beans.  I prepared them the overnight way:  boil in plenty of water for 2-3 minutes, cover, and soak overnight.  The next day, drain the beans, fill with water again, and simmer for 2 hours-ish.  I’ve been told that making the beans this way takes a lot of the gassy-ness out of them, and it seems to have worked.  I didn’t have any bad reactions to the beans.  Hooray!!!

After the beans, here’s what I did:

• Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a big pot.  Add 4 or 5 finely diced garlic cloves and 1 medium diced white onion.  Cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add spices.  I used 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.  (This was a bit too little spice for me, so I added a pinch more of each of these until it had the right flavor.  Use these measurements as a base-line and then add more of whatever you think it needs!)
• Add 1 pound of ground meat (I used ground turkey this time) and cook until done
• Pour in (2) 11.5 ounce cans of Campbell’s Tomato Juice from concentrate.  I find these at Winco for about $.75 each, and they are great to use in place of tomato sauce, which often has other stuff added that I cannot do.
• Cut up about 5 tomatoes.  Throw them in the pot.
• Dice up finely 2 stalks of celery.  Throw it in the pot.
• Chop up one green pepper.  Throw it in the pot.
• Drain and rinse the beans.  Throw them in the pot
• Stir everything well, cover, bring to a simmer, and let cook for about an hour.  Stir occasionally.

I served this with plenty of cheese, dripped yogurt (for sour cream), garlic bread for the kids, and Quick Crackers for me.  When my husband came home he grabbed a bunch of my quick crackers, layered butter and garlic salt on top, and proceeded to use that as a spoon for the chili and cheese.  He didn’t waste any time putting away a big bowl of this!!!  Though the kids didn’t like this (they are not fond of new foods), my husband and I both felt very satisfied with the flavor and consistency of this chili.  It is one that I will come back to again the future, for sure!

And on the Crohn’s note….I had no gas, and no other adverse symptoms.  So…this recipe is a WIN for me!

 

Get your hands up!!! Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about Moses, and him failing.  Yes, the giant of all giant spiritual leaders….failed.  But what happened at the end?  His friends held him up.  That was the message of the first part of this.  That we all need a little help now and then, and it’s A-okay.  God designed us for community and fellowship and to lift each other up when needed.

Today, the message is pretty simple.  In this story about the battle between the Amalekites and Israel, as long as Moses kept his hands raised, the battle was going in favor of the Israelites.  But as soon as he dropped his hands, the bad guys started to win.  This message is simply one of declaring who is in charge of the battle, and trusting the victory to Him.

There are times in this life where I get tired.  And there are times where, plain and simple, I just don’t feel the power flowing inside me.  It doesn’t mean that God has left me.  It’s simply a quiet power, or the stuff that is on my plate every day has gotten to be a bit much, and I’m distracted.  But in those times….I lift up my hands.  I’m not being fake because I’m not feeling the love right then….sometimes we simply need to go on what we KNOW and not necessarily on what we feel or don’t feel.  I’m simply being real in saying, “I need you God….right now.”  It’s a way for me to declare the victory over the battle, whether it’s kids or money or disillusionment with life……when I lift up my hands to heaven I am saying, “I trust you, God.  I know that even if I don’t feel you here….you are here.  In faith I surrender my hands, open them up, and KNOW that you are here, in control, of every single thing.”  I know about myself that if I’m in one of those spaces, and cross my arms, I’m letting the enemy win.  But if I can just lift up my hands…..I’m declaring to myself HIS victory over that battle.  It’s in the freedom to trust Him that I raise my arms.  Sometimes I can’t get them high enough, I’m reaching for him so deeply!  And at other times all I can do is sit quietly, with my hands open in front of me.  It doesn’t matter what it looks like.  For me, getting my hands in the air is my heart deeply and passionately trusting everything about God, his Son, and the power of his Spirit inside of me.

So, when things get you down…..GET YOUR HANDS UP!!!  You’ll be amazed at the freedom that is won when you simply declare HIS greatness through such a simple gesture.

 

IV time!

Today I had my second IV of this round.  I’m going in every 3 weeks right now, with the goal to get everything stabilized again and then do a maintenance IV every 6-8 weeks for the rest of……forever…..until healing is seen.

It’s worth it to me.  This doctor knows what he’s doing with this stuff.  It worked to get me healthy in the first place, and I’m looking forward to things leveling out once again.

This one went pretty good.  The doctor had me on a faster drip, so it only took me 45 minutes instead of 90 to get the whole bag in (this is a very good thing….I have trouble sitting still and not being bored!!!).  We are still at just half-dosage of everything until we make sure my body will tolerate it.  No more migraines, please!!!  So far, this one has done well.  I learned though that if I am overly tired, the IV will not be able to compensate for that.  Usually I get a huge energy boost from it, like 12-36 hours worth.  In the past those energy boosts were somewhat comical in how amped up I was!!!  During those times, I just feel so alive it’s pretty cool.    This time, because of the past week exhausting most of my reserves, the IV only gave me a  minor boost for about 2 hours.  Then I crashed.  The good thing is, besides all the good stuff in my now, that I only got a very minor headache.  Last time I had a minor headache, and this time was the same.  It could be from so many different things, so I’m not sure we can blame it on the IV.  But, it has happened twice, so I think we need to take that into account.  Which ultimately means….I won’t get up to full dosage just quite yet.  That’s okay, because even the 1/2 dosage gives me so much good stuff that I need!

That’s about it for now!  I’ll keep you posted….

 

Get your hands up!!! Part 1

I just love the story in the Bible of Moses holding his hands up.  The Israelites are battling the Amalekites, and as long as Moses holds his hands up, the good guys win.  But Moses is really only human, no matter how cool he is, and so after a time, his hands get tired and he drops them.  Guess what???  The bad guys start to take control of the battle.  So what happens next?  The two guys with Moses prop him up on a rock, and hold his hands up for him!  The battle turns again, and the good guys end up winning.

I love this story for the lessons that I learn for my own life, and keep coming back to over and over again.

The first is that we cannot do this life alone.  I can just picture the scene:  The regal Charleton Heston-ish Moses standing up, high on a hill, robes flowing in the breeze, holding his hands up strong.  A look of fierce determination races across his face.  He KNOWS that the battle will be won by his people, because he KNOWS that God is with them.  As the minutes and maybe hours wear on, and the battle wages, his arms start to weaken.  Moses grits his teeth together and MAKES his arms stay up.  His knees start to shake.  His eyes burn.  Maybe he screams out in pain and frustration.  But no matter how much of a spiritual leader and giant Moses was, his arms finally gave out.  I can imagine the agony in his heart at that moment when he realized he could no longer hold his hands up.

But the cool part comes next when his two friends take him by the hand, and set him on a rock.  Then, knowing that God was with them, they took his hands in their own and raised them to heaven.  They helped Moses do what he could no longer do, knowing that God had a plan and they trusted in that plan.

I find that a community of friends and believers is so essential in our lives today.  Just as Moses needed his friends on that day, we too need to surround ourselves with people who will speak life and encouragement to us.  And we need those people who will still believe in us, and the vision that God has given to us, even when our hands grow weary.  Those people who will not just lift our spirits with words, but will physically lift us up when needed, are so necessary.  I grow weary at times.  My hands grow weak.  I might cry out in frustration at the dryness of life.  My heart screams to find the strength to carry on, but sometimes, I just need those words from a friend to lift me up and carry me through. I think, if we were honest with each other, most of us would recognize that we’ve been there a time or two.  It’s not a lack of faith, it’s simply that we grow tired.  I encourage you that when those times come, to pick up the phone, be vulnerable, and ask someone to hold your hands up.  Be honest and open, and tell what you need.  Let people help you.  Let them hold you up, until you can hold your hands up yourself.

 

Jesus, be the center….

I went to sleep and woke up today singing the line from this song, “Jesus be the center of it all.”  It’s a great song.  Simple, yet deeply personal.

Right now, my “personal” includes poop, and not enough of it.  I’ve got a little girl who is stopped up, and who is afraid to go to the bathroom because she remembers the pain of the past.  What I try to tell her is that the more she keeps the bad stuff inside, the worse she will feel.  But she just doesn’t understand that.  All she can remember is the pain.  And so here I sit…cleaning poop off the stairs, the floor, the tub, and her, over and over and over again.  Laundry loads keep coming because of the messes left in the clothes.  She screams in pain…yet there’s nothing I can do but hug and give her my eyes.  This is my “center” right now, where I need Jesus to be present.  My own triggers come easier when I’m distracted, tired, and hurting inside because of the pain of another.  My center seems…..off center.  So my cry just keeps being, “Jesus be the center of my life….right now.”

Sometimes the junk of our lives reflects what I’m going through right now.  The bad, ugly, smelly stuff just keeps piling on us, in us, and around us.  We can’t see much past the brown and the pain.  We want to move forward but are afraid because all we can remember is that excruciating pain that held us back.  We just think we’ve got it cleaned up when we step in another pile.  We get tired of fighting so much, yet know we can’t give up.  It’s not just our life that is at stake, though at times it seems we are so alone in the battle.  Others around us need what we’ve been given.  So we keep fighting, keep moving.  We keep cleaning the poop off our feet, and our hearts, because we know we’ve been given a mission in life to heal, to touch, to bring the freedom to others that we’ve been given.

My girl doesn’t understand right now what she needs.  It’s my job, as mom, to gently guide her in the right direction.  But in the end…all I can do is offer my help.  She needs to make the decision to move forward, despite the pain.  She needs to decide that the freedom that’s on the other side is worth fighting for.

My job is to keep singing, “Jesus be the center of our lives,” and trusting that he will take care of my little girl…..and her mama who loves her oh so much.

 

I can do this!!!

Last week, my good friend and I replaced a leaky toilet in my house.  Um….no, we are not plumbers!  But we did it anyway.  I figured that if I had pictures and step-by-step instructions, it shouldn’t be any problem!  Well, for the most part, things went fine.  We got the old toilet removed and the new one installed, and it all works great.  Hooray!

As we were standing there looking at the new toilet, my friend said, “You know what I just realized?  You truly believe that we can do anything!”  I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “Yeah, I do.”

You see, somewhere along the line I came to actually believe in the verse that says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  That’s not to say that I WILL do anything!  I’m not stupid enough to tackle certain things, like climb on top of my steep roof to clean the moss off.  THAT I will leave to the experts who have the right equipment to stay safe!

But the things that are thrown my way in everyday life?  I can handle these things.  And it’s not because I’m so strong.  No way!    It’s because I have the strength of Jesus inside of me.  I know without a shadow of a doubt that he walks with me each and every day, helping me with all that I encounter.  There is nothing that can happen that I can’t get through.  It might not feel good, and I might get hurt, really hurt….but I’ll get through it.  Period.  HE is my strength, and I believe it to the very core of who I am.

I have a “Can Do” attitude because I know that HE “Can Do” it!