The Healing Blossom

Monday, July 30, 2012

"You Don't Know How Bad You Feel, Until You Feel Good": The Story of My Journey to Good Health

My name is Angela and while most people consider me very healthy, I wasn’t always this way. I was never athletic and I was a very picky eater (I lived on pepperoni pizza, McDonalds and cereal/milk most my life). I want to share with you why I changed my eating habits and why I want to help others do the same.

At age 30, I was a mess.  It seemed as each year passed, an odd new symptom would begin. Looking back, my health problems started just before junior high. I remember being tired all of the time; the kids in school and even my own mom would accuse me of being stoned. I was always cold and my energy levels were very low. I struggled to stay awake in every class. My legs itched like crazy – I ruined a few pairs of pants scratching my leg with my pen, forgetting the cap was not on. Gym class was miserable, I had low energy and my lungs burned every time I had to run – that discomfort caused me to hate anything athletic or any form of exercise.
My itchy skin was blamed on dry skin, the doctor suggested changing detergents…but I still itched, some soaps made it worse. My fatigue was blamed on “just part of being a teenager” so I continued being a teenager and of course, ate horribly. Breakfast was cereal or poptarts and milk. School lunch: ranch dressing drenched iceberg lettuce with cubed processed ham, turkey and topped with cheese, crouton and sunflower seeds.  Sometimes I didn’t want what they were serving so I sold my ticket and used the money to buy a thick slice of white bread covered with melted cheese and a honey butter scone. Beverages of choice: Pepsi, chocolate milk or skim milk. Sometimes I would buy chili cheese nachos and a 32 oz soda at Circle K. It was cheaper than school lunch so I had money left over to refill my 32 oz soda and get a snack on they way home. I started working at McDonalds at age 15, and that was my dinner almost every night for the next 3 years.
I’m disgusted in myself for eating that way. I wish I knew what that food was doing to me - I wasn't fat so I didn't see any reason for changing. I wasn’t the only one who ate like that, just about every kid in my school ate their salad that way or had cheese bread and scones for lunch.  I wasn’t the only one selling my lunch tickets for convenience store crap.
At age 20 I gained 30 pounds over the course of about 9 months. This was in 1995-96 when GMO foods invaded the American diet. When I grocery shopped, I had to bring my shopping list, coupons and calculator. I was cooking for two but I only had so much to spend with our tight budgets. We lived on hamburger helper, tater tots, frozen pot pies, Spaghetti’Os, tuna, canned veggies and I tried to learn how to cook on the weekends and serving up lasagna or chicken enchiladas with a cake or cookies. Of course I didn’t exercise because it was too painful to breath.

These photos were taken 9 months apart - you can see the 30 pound weight gain in the photo on the right.

My partner had asthma and he gave me his inhaler to try and - wow…I can breathe! I went to the doctor and sure enough, I had asthma. I decided to give my improved lungs a try and bought a gym membership. It was 1996, with the help of a popular drug called Phen-fen prescribed by my doctor, I dropped all 30 pounds in 5 months with a diet primarily of Life cereal and skim milk. During that 5 months, I was required to attend a nutrition class at the hospital. This is what I remember: drink skim milk, diet soda, make sandwiches with wheat bread, use lowfat dairy products and I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter.

At age 22 I found myself struggling to stay awake – especially if I had to drive or sit through a class or meeting at work. I couldn’t do it. My commute was 30 minutes and my partner had to drive me to and from work every day. Every day I fell asleep in the car to and from work. I was exhausted all day but then I found myself struggling to fall asleep at night.

I do not have a photo of my 30 pound weight loss, but here's one about 5 months later at age 21 - I'm sure I gained 10 back after stopping phen-fen. The photo was taken 1 1/2 years after the photo on the right at age 22...I gained it all back.
Over the next few years my immune system seemed to not work at all. I caught several colds, flu, ear infection and strep. Each time I caught a cold it would turn into bronchitis and they would put me on antibiotics and prednisone. I was put on these drugs several times each year. Once again I ballooned up 30 pounds and I was not very happy.
I researched prednisone and found it causes gain weight and weakens your immune system for up to one year. Great, I already have a weak immune system and now these drugs I to take to help me overcome my illness, will weaken my immune system even more?!…sounds like a vicious cycle I’m never going to get out of!
By age 25 my diet was mainly cereal, milk and frozen pizza, lunch was turkey or chicken sandwich and sometimes a not so healthy salad with ranch dressing on the side (that was my effort to be healthy).
New symptoms started – pain. It seemed to stem from my neck and back but it radiated up and down my whole body. Eventually the pain radiated on just the right side of my body where it would come and go. The pain was pretty debilitating at times – all I wanted to do was sleep or numb it with alcohol and drugs. I was seeing a chiropractor and going to physical therapy 3 times a week. They would do trigger point shots and send me home with somas for flare ups.
Over the next 4 years my weight went up and down. I tried to exercising 5 days a week but my energy was low. I gave up the frozen pizzas and tried to eat healthier. I followed the South Beach diet and other “low carb” diets. The weight would go down, then my energy would decrease and my weight would go up. I would catch every cold that walked past me and some would last for several weeks. I decided not to take prednisone when it was prescribed and I seemed to survive without it.
The photo on the left is me at age 27 - at a lower weight and the photo on the right is 2006, age 30 at a higher weight.


By age 30 I’d had enough and desperately wanted to feel good. The itching was getting worse, more intense…my legs were raw. My ears were itching and sometimes my arms. According to the doctors there was nothing wrong with me – at least from what they could find. My physician said I was too young to have all of these health problems but there wasn’t much they could do about it since all my test showed I was healthy. Here is the list of symptoms I was experiencing:
  • Itchy ears
  • Drainage from ears
  • Ringing in ears
  • Anxiety
  • Fatigue
  • Watery itchy eyes
  • Red sticky eyes
  • Headaches – sometimes migraines
  • Balance and dizziness issues
  • Asthma
  • Poor memory and concentration
  • Stuttering or stammering
  • Hoarseness
  • Thinning and breaking hair
  • Constipation for a few days, then diarrhea
  • Bloating and gas
  • Heartburn
  • Stomach/Intestinal Pain
  • Foot pain
  • Back pain
  • Pain on entire right side of body that comes and goes
  • Restless leg
  • Trouble falling asleep – at least 2-3 hours I’d lay in bed each night.
  • Waking up in the middle of the night – at least 1 hour.
  • Sleep walking (2 occurrences)
  • Anal itching
  • Reoccurring yeast infections
  • Irregular periods – sometimes never ending
  • Swollen legs  / ankles
  • Plantar warts
YIKES! Embarrassing – but true. Please keep reading because I'm going to tell you what I did to cure all of the health issues.
I’d stopped going to the chiropractor for a year. The pain was tolerable for a while but after a year, I couldn’t take it anymore. My old chiropractor office was closed so I tried just doing physical therapy for a few months…. but it got worse. I found a new chiropractor and he performed a test called a meridian scan or bioenergetic scan. He recommended vitamins and some diet changes along with adjustments 2-3 days per week. He didn’t really explain much - other than the vitamins I was taking (spending $30 per month on, were not working for me). He then sold me $100+ in vitamins but didn't really explain what they were and why I needed them or why they were better than what I was already taking.
A few months went by and I started feeling a little better…I think.  He suggested removing dairy and gluten or eating sprouted wheat. I kind of listened to what he recommended, but I didn’t really know why and didn’t really stick with it. Every few months I had a new meridian scan, I could see my results improving and I felt like I was improving….a little…but I still didn’t feel right.
I was on a mission to solve my health issues. I researched endlessly on the internet. Each week I would stop at Whole Foods in the supplement section, looking for remedies and answers. I decided to purchase one of those boxed 30 day detox kits for $30. I followed the instructions and ate most the foods it recommend and the supplements it included. At the end of the 30 days, I felt a little better, but maybe that was because of the vitamins my new chiropractor had me on?
My physician sent me to a GI doctor. She was unsure about my digestive problems. I suspected gluten may be an issue because several family members had just been diagnosed with celiac disease. She didn’t believe me because I didn’t have all the symptoms of celiacs and my blood tests were normal. She mentioned I may have IBS and scheduled me for a colonoscopy in four months. She also told me that my bowel movements every 3 days were “normal”. HOW CAN THAT BE NORMAL? I eat 3 meals a day. Why would waste sitting in my bowels for several days be normal?
I decided to try another detox but this time I purchased Dr. Hyman’s “Detox Box”. It cost $30 but it was different than the other kit I bought. It didn’t include supplements; it contained an audio CD with Dr. Hyman explaining why we need to detox, a yoga CD, yoga flash cards, a booklet, and flash cards referencing the foods and supplements the doctor recommends. It took me about a month to gather all of the supplies needed for the detox and prepare for it. I’d spent over $300 purchasing all of the supplements and supplies. Plus another chunk of money buying all of the healthy foods and spices. If I’d know the price tag up front, would I have done it? Probably not, unless I knew of others who’d been successful doing the detox. Then maybe I could’ve justified the final price tag.
After the new year, I followed it exactly for 7 days and I had a 7 pound weight loss. I felt better than I’d felt in years.  I had to learn more! Why do I need to take all of these vitamins and supplements? Why does the so called food I’ve been eating all of my life affect me this way? Is it possible I may have food intolerances or allergies? Why was I taught growing up to have 11 servings of cereals and grain, and why was I told to drink all that milk? Why does my body feel so much better when I don’t eat what I’ve been taught to eat my whole life? I had so many questions which prompted me to look for more books by Dr. Hyman.
I detoxed again but this time I did the full 3 weeks as suggested in The Detox Box. Wow! I had more energy than I’ve had in my entire adult life. I followed the detox diet exactly as it was laid out and it was very difficult for me. Before I started I had no idea how to prepare vegetables and I didn’t really like fish. I struggled eating the rice protein shakes, steamed veggies, brown rice and salmon – but I did it and I made myself like it. I continued to eat healthy for a few more months and I followed an allergen elimination diet recommend by Dr. Hyman and used recipes from his Ultrametabolism book.
By my 31st birthday, I’d lost 25 pounds and most of my health problems went away. Even the symptoms I thought were normal part of life were gone. After 4 months without dairy, I added it back in and discovered that is what had been causing me to itch…and it made me tired. I also realized  I had a lactose intolerance. I cancelled my very expensive but now unnecessary colonoscopy.  My pain was gone too!
Over the course of the next 4 years I still applied some of what I had learned but I got lazy with the vitamins – just taking a multi. My eating habits were better than most people – I ate my fair share of vegetables and salmon, I ate really well at home but I ate food from work – which was pretty much fast foods. Most my symptoms were now back including the pain and I found myself once again, 25 pounds overweight. Ugh! I know better, how did I let myself get here….life…stress…and bad eating habits had a domino effect.
Feeling horrible I went back to the doctor, this time my tests were positive for Hypothyroidism. That would explain why after 12 weeks of bootcamp, working out harder than I have my entire life, I did not lose any weight. I was asked to come back in a month and re-test. I made some changes to my diet and the following month my test was negative – but I still had all of the symptoms. I read Dr. Hyman’s book on Hypothyroidism and found that just because your blood tests are negative, doesn’t mean you don’t have a thyroid problem. He referred to it as an elusive thyroid problem. Hypothyroidism is when your body takes the food you eat and converts it to fat instead of energy. So you feel tired and hungry all of the time – sabotaging whatever diet you try to stick to making it impossible to lose weight. Each month my tests proved negative results despite all of the symptoms I was experiencing.
That summer my allergies and asthma were really bad. I itched constantly despite avoiding dairy products. My doctor referred me to an allergy specialist for further testing. The day before my allergy test, I returned home from a weekend trip at Bear Lake. I had the worst sunburn I ever experienced in my life. I went to my appointment and said to the nurse, "We should only do the asthma test. My back is very sunburt and I don’t think we can do the scratch test on my back." The doctor disagreed and said he can still perform the test.
UGH!! That was painful! After the test the doctor said I had no allergies, even dairy did not show an allergic reaction. He said “Some people just itch” and he implied that it was all in my head. WTF?! Seriously?! He told me to go by Zyrtec....so I did and it made me feel like I'd been hit by a bus. Okay, so that visit was a waste of money. Thanks doctor for your wise advice.
The pain that radiated on the right side of my body was worse than ever. I’ve tried acupuncture, chiropractors, and massage – sometimes it would help for an hour, a day or a week but the pain always came back. Detoxing was the only thing that took the pain away for an extended period of time. Now I’ve added a new pain – joint pain in my hips and feet. My stomach hurts randomly, sometimes I'm doubled over for 4 hours. Eating is painful, even something as simple as sushi was painful.
A few months before my 35th birthday, I knew what I had to do. I had the knowledge and the resources to fix the problem. I listened to Dr. Hymans, Detox Box CD again and re-read his books. I had to get my mind in the right place so set these goals and follow this restrictive detox diet again.
I gave up my birth control, asthma and allergy medications. I detoxed for 3 weeks – I felt better, I only lost 7 pounds and I knew I wasn’t finished. My energy wasn’t like it was 4 years ago.
I decided to detox again but I wanted to wait a month. I ate healthy that month and continued my yoga. I tried to start running until the pain came back after 2 weeks. Hmmmm the pain goes away when I detox. It feels better after chiropractic, yoga and massage - they all release toxins. Could my pain be from a toxin, maybe a toxin I’m continually exposed to? Hmm???
It had been a few years since I had a meridian scan and I visited a friend who just purchased a scanner. We performed the test and the results showed few toxins in my body, but one was very high – palladium. I went home and Googled palladium. It’s used in jewelry, mostly from china and it’s an alloys mixed with gold and used in dental crowns. It’s just as poisonous as mercury. Hmmm…..my pain started 10 year ago. That year I had 2 crowns – one on the right and one on the left. The same year I had radiating pain throughout my entire body. Both crowns really irritated my gums but the crown on the left was more irritated and that’s the one they removed…leaving the other one on the right….all my radiating pain is on the right.
For 10 years I’ve had this crown on the right side. I asked for a porcelain crown but what I got was a porcelain crown with gold on the inside. It most likely has the palladium alloy that showed up on my test. The next day I called my new dentist and asked him to remove this old crown. This time I want all porcelain – no gold, no metal. It costs more, but I’m willing to pay more if the pain goes away. After I had the crown removed, I started another detox. By the end of the 3 weeks, the pain is gone, I only dropped 3 pounds but I felt a lot better.
I felt so good – I completed two 5k races that spring (I’ve never been able to run like that before). For the first time in my life, I felt athletic. I was controlling my asthma through diet and vitamins. I’m not the best runner and I don’t really like it but I’ll kept working at it. I do however, love cycling and started commuting 16 miles every day. At lunch I go for a brisk walk for 45-60 minutes and I started swimming once a week. I continued eating the detox diet for my breakfast and lunch. Despite all of these efforts, my weight stayed the same – all summer.
That fall, I decided to do another detox. It seems to be the only way my weight will budge. The inflammation foods: dairy, gluten, corn, soy, nightshades, eggs and nuts all keep me from losing weight.  This time I dropped 9 pounds in the 1st week. One pound the 2nd week. The funny thing, I did it without exercising.
My energy was really low before I started my detox and continued to be low after the detox, then I came down with a tonsil infection that felt a lot like strep. My doctor referred me to an ear nose and throat doctor because it was my 2nd infection in just a few months. The ear nose and throat doctor ask why I still had my tonsils? He said I had the biggest crater in my tonsils that he’s ever seen. He’s surprised I’m not sick all of the time (Well I used to be). With a crater that size my immune system is constantly fighting low grade infections and that’s what could be causing fatigue. I never had my tonsils removed because none of my doctors had ever talked to me about it until now. Looking back to my early 20’s – they should’ve been removed then. I was constantly battling chronic fatigue, sore throats and illness. Duh!
After I had my tonsils removed I expected to drop weight. Despite the low calorie, liquid diet – I didn’t lose any weight…just 2 pounds but I know it wasn’t fat.
I learned that thyroid issues cause problems with liver detoxification. Anything that’s toxic on the liver is going to cause problems with my thyroid preventing me from losing weight. I’m sure the painkillers I took after the surgery kept my liver pretty toxic.
My life has completely changed. I went from being a picky eater who's only veggie was iceberg drenched in ranch. Now I love eating healthy, I crave veggies and nutrient filled salads but I love healthy treats too. The problem is every time I start allowing, gluten, dairy or sugar in my life – it’s like a domino effect and it takes over. Next thing I know I’m eating it every day – and then I start packing on the pounds, anxiety comes back and I just don’t feel very good. In order to stop, I have to refocus and reboot my system.
Some people can lose weight by following a 90/10 rule….eating healthy 90% of the time and allowing 10% cheats. Not me. One drop of gluten, sugar, alcohol or pretty much any food not included in my detox can keep me from losing weight. I have to be strict, no cheats, not even 1 glass of wine. The longer I go without those poisons, the better I feel….and it’s not easy. But sometimes you don’t know how bad you feel until you feel good.
Now at age 36, I’ve reversed my dairy allergy. I don’t itch anymore. I still chose not to eat it, but it’s nice to know that if I do allow a splurge I’m not going to spend the rest of my night paying for it. Even the lactose intolerance is hardly noticeable.

I did not have seasonal allergies for the 1st time in 10 years. I use to take Allegra every summer....this year I'm loving the summer without it.

Pretty much all of the symptoms I listed up above are gone. Gluten causes my stomach to swells up (for years I just thought I was fat). Overall I just feel better if I keep it out of my diet. If my diet is bad for several weeks, some of the symptoms come back and go away when I eat healthy again.
I’ve learned so much these last 6 years; I just wish I knew all of this years ago. …maybe my 20’s would’ve been more enjoyable. I believe the detox, good quality vitamins in high doses and a very healthy diet with a lot of vegetables cured all of those symptoms. It's not just one change I made, I changed everything.

My doctors weren't much help, just ready to write a presciption for each symptom. Never addressing toxins, vitamin deficiencies or diet. The only one who mentioned anything about that was a chiropractor. I had to figure most of this out on my own. I read book, after book, after book. Google was pretty handy too. It's unfortunate that the doctors we trust with our health, don't know anything about vitamins, toxins or diet. So unless your luckly enough to find a doctor who knows about preventative medicine, you'll have to figure it out on your own to. You can choose to grow old on your meds while some of us are getting healthier with age.

Changing your diet takes full commitment and dedication but all that work added years to my life and it can add years to your life too. I hope to have a family some day and I want to live to see them grow. I want to be a grandma – a fun grandma, one that has energy to have fun with her family. I want to teach them how to eat between the lines and be smart about their health.
I’m a different person than I was 6 years ago. My health is in my hands. I’m responsible for what I put in my body. I don’t listen to commercial advertising telling me what’s healthy. I know how to read the labels and I understand the ingredients. I don’t count carbs or fat grams – instead I eat the right carbs, the right fats and eat clean foods. I know eating healthy costs more but I can pay for my health, feel good now and I’m investing in my future health. Or I eat cheap processed, GMO foods and pay for the doctor, hospital and medication bills down the road.

I believe I'm on the border of having serious health issues, possibly an auto immune disease. MS and Celiacs run in the family. If I don't continue to eat healthy, I will only cause myself more problems in the future. If I end up the cancer down the road, I know it was not caused by what I'm doing now, but what I did while I was young. They say adult cancer starts in your body 20 years before you are diagnosed. Turn your life around before you get sick or it may be too late.
If I can make these changes in my life, anyone can. My goal in life is to help others find what I’ve found – good health. Let me be your coach and guide you, to feeling the best you’ve ever felt. I can get you on a vitamin plan that works and I'll explain why. Try my detox – I’ve made the detox preparation easier, I've even improved it and added to it. I have a kit with everything you need and even created an easy to follow workbook. Plus you have me as your coach.
Like I said, you don’t know how bad you feel, until you feel good J

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

How to Sleep Naturally

Getting a good night sleep is essential for health. Having insomnia or trouble falling asleep can greatly decrease your quality of life. It’s estimated that 27% of adults struggle with insomnia and women tend to suffer greater numbers than men. Lack of a good night sleep can result in daytime sleepiness, reduced cognitive performance, and potentially dangerous inattentiveness.
I started struggling with insomnia as a teenager. I couldn’t fall asleep at night, but I could sleep like a rock during the day, if allowed. I was groggy all of the time and I would get in trouble for falling asleep in class. According to my doctor it was just part of being a teenager. I depended on other people to wake me in the morning because I would shut it off my alarm clock and not realize it. As I entered my 20’s I struggled to stay awake riding in the car for more than 10 minutes. My family and friends had to drive me around because I didn’t want to risk falling asleep at the wheel.
It would take me about 2-3 hours to fall asleep each night and on the weekends I would sleep 10-12 hours. I began to think maybe I had some disorder I inherited. My grandfather sleeps all day and mows the lawn with a flash light at night (his neighbors love him). Maybe my body doesn’t want to sleep at night – maybe I’m doomed to be forever groggy. I knew something was wrong with me, but according to my doctor, I was in good health.
My doctor offered sleeping pills or it was recommended I try Melatonin. I opted for Melatonin since it was the natural option. Melatonin is a hormone released by the pineal gland in response to the absence of light. Its release into the bloodstream triggers a chain of events that promote sleep. It’s used to retrain the sleep cycle with situations such as jet lag. The melatonin worked for a little while but eventually my body stopped responding to it.
As time went on, the sleeping problems got worse. In my early 30’s a new symptom started – Restless Leg Syndrome. The constant movement was now keeping my partner awake too. Then something really frightening happened, I was found sleep walking by hotel security while on vacation.
I had to make changes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I continued to research natural alternatives and tried a few detoxification kits but nothing seemed to work. Then I found Dr. Hyman’s books and detox box, I followed his recommendations for a few months and found myself sleeping through the night. I discovered the restless legs and excessive sleep were caused by my diet and my insomnia was caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I always took vitamins, but I guess the quality or the dosages were not enough to correct my deficiency.
Magnesium is the relaxation mineral and it’s required for over 325 biochemical reactions in the body. It’s estimated that over 68% of the population is magnesium deficient. Some of us aren’t getting it in our diets and it’s forced out of our bodies from stress, excessive sweating, parasites, caffeine, phosphates, sugar, alcohol, smoking, diuretics, antibiotics, steroids, birth control, and several prescription and illegal drugs.
Even if you have a healthy diet and lifestyle, you need about 300 mg a day just to offset the loss of magnesium. Most people will benefit from 500-1000mg per day and some need more. I take it every day and I keep a bottle of 500 mg of magnesium in my nightstand. I found taking it right before bed time relaxes me and helps me to fall asleep in 20 minutes. After 20 years, my battle with insomnia is finally over. Sure occasionally I have a night when my mind is racing and I can’t seem to shut it off -but those nights are rare. Usually a 2nd dose of magnesium will do the trick.
If you suffer from insomnia or have trouble falling asleep, I highly recommend magnesium. I’ve seen it work for a lot of people and it’s very inexpensive.
 Some other natural sleep aids to consider if magnesium doesn’t do the trick:
·         Vitamin A
·         Vitamin C
·         Vitamin D
·         Vitamin E
·         B-12 (methycobalin)
·         Niacin
·         Zinc
·         5-HTP
·         Melatonin
·         GABA
·         Valerian and Lemon Balm
Try taking a hot bath with 1 cup of Epsom salts and 10 drops of lavender oil. You’ll absorb the magnesium from the Epsom salts to relax your body and the lavender will help to relax your mind. If you don’t have a bath tub, plug the drain in the shower and add the Epsom salt and lavender. A nice hot shower with your feet soaking in Epsom will work well too.
Remove all soda and caffeinated beverages from your diet. Most people think it’s the caffeine that prevents them from sleeping. The caffeine actually causes you to excrete all your magnesium and that will keep you from falling asleep long after the caffeine has worn off.
Only eat healthy whole foods. Processed or inflammation foods can keep you from having a good night sleep – especially too much sugar. Consider an allergen/inflammation elimination diet to see if certain foods may be interfering with a good night sleep. After all, sleep is much more delicious than the desert you ate before bed.
To read more about Magnesium, read this article here.
To purchase the brand of Magnesium I use and recommend, click here. I choose Life Extension products because they are a non-profit organization and they do extensive research into health, anti-aging and weight loss.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tonsillectomy Summary - If I had to do it all over again


Tonsillectomy Summary

Well, I don't regret having the tonsillectomy. If I had to do it all over again, I would make some changes to my recovery plan. Proper nutrition and vitamins will help your body heal quicker. I think I did pretty good getting a variety of nutrients, but there is room for improvement. It's a shame that anything tangy stings the throat because high doses of Vitamin C helps your body recover and heal from surgery (twice as fast). I think if I had to do it again, I might try to drink a high dose of buffered vitamin C powder in water - mixed with some healing aloe juice. 


Foods, Beverages & Nutrition

It’s funny how everyone thinks you can eat an ice cream after having your tonsils removed. You don't want to consume dairy products, they cause mucous which can make it difficult to breathe when your throat is swollen. Dairy also coats the throat and it doesn’t feel very good on an open wound. The first few days after surgery, you should only consume clear liquids. Some doctors will say to stick with clear liquids the first 24 hours but I found it beneficial to continue on clear liquids during the entire recovery.

Aloe Vera Juice -  I would buy tons of aloe juice. I recommend Lakewood but if it’s not available, make sure you get one that’s not flavored. The flavored aloe juices are too tangy and they can hurt.  Lakewood Aloe juice feels like silk on your throat. Not only will it help you heal quicker but it will help soften the stool that’s hardened by the pain medication. (Constipation at that level is just as painful as the throat and ears). I didn’t like the taste of the Aloe juice at first but I got use to it because it felt so good. I diluted the aloe juice with coconut water and a bunch of Sonic crushed ice….it was perfect. Sometimes I diluted with prune juice– just a splash and the peach/apple juice.

Sorbet and certain applesauce is okay and I recommend eating them with the medication. I didn’t like the way the normal applesauce felt on my throat – the bits seem to stick to the back of my throat. I liked the organic baby food made with apples. It’s smoother than apple sauce and felt better on the throat. I crushed the Percoset up then added it to a small amount of apple baby food or sorbet. The Haagen-Dazs Mango flavored worked well too.  If you take the pain meds with food you’re less likely to throw up.

I was really sick of sweet things about day 3. I glad I had homemade healing vegetable broth. I didn’t think I would like drinking it, but it was a NICE change from all of the sweet stuff. Its best to make your own, but if you can't, remember to get organic and low sodium.  The sodium will burn. The homemade healing broth my best friend made for me was the best. A nice homemade bone broth would be great too. Or you could try Bonafide.



Healthy Food/Beverage Must Haves:


·         Crushed ice and water (crushed ice from Sonic is the best, they sell it by the bag)


·         Aloe Juice (not flavored, Lakewood is the best – about 4 bottles)

·         Coconut water (1/2 tall can per day, but only the kind without added sugar and preservatives - I like Real Coconut Water and Amy & Brian's Coconut Juice).

·         Peach or Apple juice (mix with Aloe if you don’t like the taste of Aloe). Avoid anything citrusy or tangy and anything artificial with preservatives and carbonation.

·     Rooibos Tea   or Celestial Seasonings, Sleepytime herbal tea

·         Bone Broth

·         Homemade healing vegetable broth

·         Sprout Organic Baby Food (Roasted Apples & Blueberries)

·         Pacific, Butternut Squash soup

·         Haagen Daaz Mango or Raspberry Sorbet

·         Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

·         Eggs

·         Steamed Vegetables

·         Salmon

·         Rice 


Sleeping

The first 10 days I slept on the couch because I could prop myself up and keep my neck straight. The pain pills helped me sleep a lot the first week. The 2nd week when I went back to work I was very tired and had to take naps on my lunch break. After 2 weeks  I stopped the pain meds and I was unable to sleep for almost a week with the exception of a few hours here and there…that was rough it's a symptom of withdrawal from the pain medication (Percocet).

Teeth
Some people are worried that brushing their teeth will hurt. I didn’t find this a problem at all. But I use clove and anise flavored toothpaste instead of mint. Then I also add essential oils to my tooth brush because it helps keep the plaque off. I thought that might sting but it didn’t.  Just be careful. As the throat starts to heal it will turn white which is plaque. I found that my teeth kept getting plaque on them so I brushed 3 times per day with my Deliverance oil.

Ear Pain
The ear pain sets in at about Day 3. My pain felt more like a massive headache instead of ear pain and the Percocet doesn’t help.

This is what did help: Millenia which is an essential oil blend from Butterfly Express. It says to put a drop or two around the ear. I dropped it in the ear (normally this would irritate the ear but it actually made it feel better). I'm glad I had some on hand.

Cover your ears. Any noise will bother you – everything gets really loud and it makes the ears hurt more. I wrapped my head in a scarf and covered my ears. It muffled the sound enough where I could tolerate it. I guess you could try ear muffs is you have them.



Painkillers
Your doctor may give you Lortab or Percocet. Some blogs I've read suggested liquid lortab but my doctor said it’s not strong enough and you should take the pills. You can always crush them and add them to a little bit of applesauce or sorbet.

The Percocets can be taken once every 4 hours or as needed. I woke up every 4 hours and took it but now I wished that I tried to wait longer – especially on the afternoon of day 4. About day 3 or 4 I noticed that my urine was clear but I didn’t think I was drinking enough water to do that. I also noticed some pain in the kidneys. By day 6 I had a very very painful bowel movement. Despite drinking the aloe and prune juices I still got very constipated. If I had to do it all over again I would ease off the percocet and try to go longer in between doses. Taking it every 4 hours made my body feel like it was shutting down by day 5-6, even urinating became difficult.

My original plan was to avoid all pain meds until I absolutely had to take them but I read that could make it worse and you could end up having to take more medication for a longer period of time. The pain medication itself seems to last about 3.5 hours but you can go longer as long as you don’t try to eat.

On day 6, after the very painful bowel movement I cut the doses back to every 5 hours and the next day every 6 hours and the next day every 7 hours. Then I took it every 8 hours for a few days. By day 13, I cut back to 2 per day. Day 14 & 15 I just took 1 before bed. Day 16 was a Saturday and the pain wasn't strong enough to take the medication. It hadn’t been the 2 previous days but I heard you want to slowly reduce the pain meds.  That night I could not fall asleep until 5AM. Sunday it felt like my body temperature was out of whack. I was really cold or too hot. I struggled to sleep that night constantly flipping the covers on and off. Monday morning, Day 17 I had body aches and chills – I just couldn’t get warm. I Googled percoset withdrawl and sure enough, it’s exactly what I was experiencing. Another symptom is excessive yawning and a running nose. I can’t even yawn because it hurts - I have to grit down every time my body wants to yawn. The yawning kicked in once I reduced the dosage down to one per day.

According to the web-sites I found, addiction starts at about 7 days. Some people claim addiction sets in as soon as you feel the dreamy euphoric feeling when it firsts kicks in. I have to admit, when you are in a lot of pain you really start to look forward to the dreamy euphoric feeling. I believe I experienced that on the first day.

If I had to do it all over again, I would go more than 4 hours in between doses.  Also – make sure your doctor prescribes the numbing lollipops. You suck on them for 30 seconds and it numbs your throat. It’s perfect for taking your medication and getting you between doses.


I did get dizzy a lot, sometimes just sitting up and sometimes just getting up to get ice or water. As soon as you feel dizzy, stop what you are doing and lay down. The feeling always passes, but usually I would nap before getting up again. I think the dizziness may have been from the Percocet. Or its possible that my body was depleted of B12 after the anesthesia. B12 deficiencies can cause dizziness. I would add a 5,000 mcg dose of chewable B12 - just in case.


Pain Levels

The first day or two the pain isn’t really that bad. Day 3 the pain gradually increases. I think the worst days were evening of Day 3, Day 4 and Day 11.

Weight loss

I guess the average weight loss is about 10 pounds. I have a couple of friends who lost 20 pounds. I did not lose any weight, but 10 years after the surgery I was diagnosed with Lipedema. A loose connective tissue disorder that creates fat that doesn't go away with diet or exercise. The strange thing is, before I had this surgery, Lipedema was only in the lower half of my body. The year of the surgery, the Lipedema spread into my upper body. I've always wondered if having the surgery did something that caused the disorder to spread.

I had to wait an entire month before I could do any exercise. I heard a few horror stories from people who ripped their throat in yoga, gymnastics and just trying to do their jobs. If that happens you end up losing a lot of blood and have to be rushed to the hospital. I didn't dare do any exercise for a month...plus I was still pretty tired. After 4 weeks passed I went to yoga but I took it easy the first week.

Time Off – I thought once I got back to work I would just have some throat pain to deal with. I had no idea how wiped out my body would be or that I would have to go through pain killer withdrawals. It took a full 3 weeks before my energy came back and I only took the pain meds for 2 weeks. I would not be able to take 3 weeks off of work ,but I wish I went back to work on 12 or 13 instead of day 11. When you do have to get up and move around, carry things, etc – just remember your body is still weak. Walking and carrying a bag of groceries didn’t seem like a big deal at the time (2 weeks after the surgery) but I fell – twice. After my throat stop hurting and I stopped the pain meds I felt guilty for not getting things done around the house. I wish I would’ve rested more – or at least not felt guilty when I was resting. I just didn’t expect to be that tired. Remember – you had surgery and you need to rest. REST!!!! Plan for 12-21 days off work depending on your job.

Other Must Haves:

·         Millenia  - essential oil to reduce swelling in ears.

·         Deliverance –essential oil to keep plaque off of teeth (one drop on tooth brush with toothpaste)

·         Humidifier

·         Popsicle Molds 

·         Cold packs /ice packs (for the first few days)

·         Scarf or ear muffs (to reduce ear pain)

·         Lots of comfy clothes and plenty of blankets and pillows.


Tonsillectomy Blogs:

Preparing for my Tonsillectomy

Day 1 - Tonsillectomy

Day 2 - Tonsillectomy

Day 3 - Tonsillectomy
Day 4 - Tonsillectomy

Days 5 & 6 - Tonsillectomy

Day 7 - Tonsillectomy

Days 8, 9, 10 - Tonsillectomy

Days 11-15  - Tonsillectomy




Tonsillectomy – Day 11-15, THE FIRST WEEK BACK TO WORK


Day 11

Today is my first day back to work. I need to be coherent today so I’ve decided to not take the Percocet unless I absolutely have to. It was really cold outside and I had to scrape the car this morning. The cold triggered some ear pain.

I arrived at work in a lot of pain and I decided to take the percocet. The pain in my ears and throat is increasing. I put my Millenia oil in my ears and took a few licks off the numbing lollipop. Wow..the pain is getting worse…the oil seem to be helping, but over all, I feel horrible.

Why did I come back today? Why did I fax in my doctors note stating I could return? Boy was I wrong. Its one thing to feel this pain and be knocked out by pain meds with my kitten to keep me company. But dealing with this at work is a whole different story. UGH! I want to go home :(

I will be sitting all day…but I really need to lay down. I finally make it to lunch time and set-up camp in the spare office. I took a nap on the floor and used my coat as a blanket and my other jacket as a pillow. The napped helped – a lot...but I could’ve slept a lot longer. My head is pretty fuzzy and I’m thankful I have a job where I can sit down. By the afternoon the ear pain settled.
Finally I’m on my way home and dying to take another Percocet. I would compare today’s pain to what I was feeling on day 4. Wow, I felt pretty good Friday and now the pain is just as intense as a full week prior. Ugh…

 Day 11 Diet:

·         Cultured Coocnut Milk (creamy dairy free yogurt beverage)

·         Rice Protein Shake with borage oil and green superfoods

·         Beet Soup (liver cleansing)

·         Steamed veggies

·         Warm chocolate almond milk

·         Left over salmon avocado sushi with coconut aminos (it's a gluten free soy sauce replacement)

·         Coconut chocolate ice cream

Things I tried but was too painful:

·         Blueberry Herbal tea (too tangy)

·         Coconut date roll (soft but stuck to the roof of my mouth)

·         Buffered Vitamin C (it didn’t hurt yesterday)

Cultured Coconut Milk comes in three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry. It's not as thick as yogurt but tastes just like it. Actually coconut yogurt is very creamy I prefer it over dairy.



Day 12

I decided it may be better to set an alarm at 4AM and take my Percocet. That way I'll be sleeping when it hits me. Maybe that will make my day less painful. It will be wearing off about the time I’m driving to work.

7AM came too quickly….I must peel myself out of bed….ugh…today is not as bad as yesterday – that’s for sure.  When I arrived at work, it was struggling. I took another Percocet around 11AM. I was ready for another nap on my lunch break. This time I brought a small blanket I used it as a pillow and my coat as a blanket. Nap time...

Day 13

I took my Percocet at 3AM and getting out of bed was a little easier when 7AM came around. After I got to work I realized I’d forgotten my Percocet and panicked. I almost went back home to get it but I decided to wait it out. If the pain got really bad I could always go home if I had to. A co-worker gave me some ibuprofen and I made it through the day. I took a dose of percocet when I got home and since I made it through the day, I decided I could make it through the entire night.

Day 14

Yawn…grit….yawn…grit…..I’m sooo tired and I can’t stop yawning….but I can’t yawn….I have to grit my teeth to prevent a very painful yawn. I made it through the entire day without pain meds. That night I tried to sleep and had trouble. Around 1AM I gave in and took a Percocet and was able to fall asleep. Hmm....could that be sign of pain killer addiction?

Yep...sure enough....withdrawals from the percocet caused me to yawn all day and kept me from falling asleep.

Day 15

It’s been 2 weeks since the surgery and I’m sooo tired. The pain is minimal but not strong enough to take anything for it. I went to the grocery store this evening and was carrying 1 grocery bag and fell in the middle of the store. I didn’t slip or trip….it’s like my legs just gave out from underneath me. Embarrassing for sure but I got back up and pretended like it was no big deal. When I arrived home, it happened again, this time I dropped the food I’d just purchased all over the floor…and the glass platter it was all on. I guess I need more rest. You'd think after 2 weeks of doing nothing but laying around, you'd get back your strength and be normal....I feel anything but normal.

I feel like I can pretty much eat anything. I tried crackers and nuts today and it all went down ok. The only thing that bothered me was pineapple….it stung.

After falling twice today, I’m in pain all over. I took one last Percocet before bed– but it’s the last one I’m taking (I still have 1/3 of my bottle left).

Next: Tonsillectomy - If I Had To Do It All Over Again

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Tonsillectomy - Day 8,9,10


Day 8

Today my goal is to ease off this medication a little more and try to be active and awake. I have to go back to work Monday so sleeping from 1-5pm isn’t going to work next week.

I feel pretty good today and I was awake the entire day – no nap. I did some things around the house and added some products to my web-site. I was able to take all of my vitamins today (except buffered c) and even added in a liver cleanser. Even though I’m eating more I think I will see some weight loss if I give my liver from assistance.  I’m also going to make sure I eat plenty of liver cleansing foods today.

Day 8 Diet

·         1 egg on top of roasted sweet potato mash

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water

·         Alexa’s detox broth.

·         Steamed kale, zucchini and onions with olive oil and turmeric.

·         Leftover marinated salmon

·         Canned beets

·         Brown rice protein shake with Green Superfoods and borage oil

·         Detox friendly pumpkin coconut cream pie

·         I tried to eat some coconut ice cream – mango passion fruit but it was way too tangy. Instead I had some mango sorbet.



Day 9

I’m wiped today, I pushed it a little too hard yesterday. I did a little more work on my web-site and a few things around the house.. The pain has increased but I will only take the doses once every 8 hours. I don’t seem to get dizzy and I’m having 1 BM each day. Reducing the dosage has really helped my body overall. A dose of pain killers every 4 hours (as prescribed) is way too much. Sure it’s takes the pain away but I felt like my insides were shutting down.

I stayed awake until 2pmish before I needed a nap and slept a few hours.  We’re meeting Alexa and Damian for sushi tonight. It’s my first time out in over a week except for my surgery and doctor appointment. It’s feels nice to get dressed up and go out.

By the time we arrived at the restaurant it had been 4 hours since my last percoset dose. I need to find soft foods that are low in sodium, no tangy fruits, nothing crunchy and nothing spicy. I ordered a Sunset roll without lemon slices and fresh spring rolls. The peanut sauce served with the spring rolls burns. I thought the low sodium soy sauce would burn but it was safe. I can’t open my mouth very wide without pain so I’m forced to eat my sushi pieces in two bites. I did try some edamame without salt and that worked too.

Day 9

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water

·         Brown rice protein shake with Green Superfoods and borage oil

·         Detox friendly Pumpkin coconut cream pie and coconut whip cream.

·         Vanilla coconut yogurt

·         Sunset roll without lemon slice

·         Fresh salad spring rolls

·         Edamame

·         Jasmine tea

·         Ice cream



Day 10

I didn’t sleep well last night, it must have been the icecream right before bed. I’m really wiped out today. I think I pushed it a little too hard the last 2 days. I’ll be working all week and I really need to rest today. I tried taking my buffered vitamin c powder in water. It didn’t burn so I can add that back in every day.

Overall my pain level is pretty high today. About the 6th hour after my dose it starts to feel like a red hot poker in my throat. I feel like I could probably eat regular foods today as long as it’s within the hour of taking the percoset. But I’m going to stick to soft foods to avoid causing any damage while my throat is healing.

I have seen some weight loss the last few days. I think adding in my vitamins, the liver cleanser and reducing the percoset dosage has allowed my body to function properly so I can lose some weight.

Day 10 Diet

·         Coconut water and aloe juice

·         Vanilla coconut yogurt

·         Costco Veggie burger – plain, no bread

·         Left over sushi – Sunset roll with coconut aminos

Friday, February 3, 2012

Tonsillectomy - Day 7

Day 7

Today I had to get up at 9AM to go to my ENT follow-up appointment. Normally it’s scheduled 3 weeks after the surgery but I need a return to work letter from my doctor so I can return on Monday. I’m hoping I’ll be ready by Monday which will be day 11.

It was rough getting up this morning and I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive because I was dizzy from my 7AM percoset. I asked the doctor why I was only feeling pain on one side. The doctor said it’s called “asymmetrical pain”. It can happen after surgery when one side hurts more than the other. It doesn’t mean the other side is not hurting, it just means the side I feel hurts more. The scabs are still on and he said they should fall off slowly, a little bit at a time. It’s possible that the same pain I’m experiencing today, may still be just as strong 3 weeks from now. Hopefully I can function at work Monday because I can’t take 3 weeks off of work unpaid.

After the drive home I felt a little nauseous from the ride home. I cooked an egg and topped it my sweet mashed potatoes.  My Percocet was wearing off but I wanted to go 7 hours in between doses. At about the 6th hour I started getting a headache. Then I napped for 3 hours…..I won’t be able to do that when I return to work. Sure I still need to rest this week but need to be coherent for 11 straight hours on Monday and every day next week. I can’t go from sleeping all the time to 11 hours of working (8 hours of work, 1 hour lunch, 30 minutes getting ready for work and 1 ½ hours total drive time).

When I woke from my nap it had been 9 hours since my last Percocet. For dinner I decided to try some real food. I made a marinated salmon, carrot ginger soup and steamed kale and onions. The carrot ginger soup was good but I could feel the tangy ginger on my throat. I ate ½ a cup before it became to painful. I thought the marinated salmon would be too spicy, but I couldn’t feel it. (maybe the ginger already did the damage?). The difficult part about eating that food was not swallowing it. As you chew some food gets caught between the cheek and gums. Normally you use your tongue to dislodge that food so you can continue chewing or swallow it. Yikes!! Can’t use the tongue like that…WAY too painful. I have to take a sip of water and swish it to dislodge the food.

Another shock of throat pain happened when I accidently dropped a lid on the floor. No big deal, the lid was plastic but it slipped and my body tensed up when I dropped it. YIKES! OUCH! That’s painful.

As week 1 ends, I’m experiencing the following problems:

·         I can talk, but softly.

·         The throat pain is greatly minimized with the Percocet for about 3 hours. The 4th hour the pain gradually increases. The pain has not been as intense as other has described…at least not yet….

·         I’m eating soft foods but I prefer the clear liquids. If I eat anything, I have to drink a bunch of water and swish it around to rise all the food particles out of my mouth and throat.

·         I am now taking all of my vitamins and supplements except for buffered vitamin c and I’m no longer crushing up the Percocet.

·         I’m still pretty wiped out and I get dizzy at times. If I push it too hard around the house I start to get a headache or get dizzy and have to lay down. Sometimes even sitting up and typing is too much.



Day 7 Diet

·         1 egg on top of roasted sweet potato mash.

·         Coconut water and aloe juice diluted in water.

·         Alexa’s healing broth (warm).

·         Carrot & Ginger Soup, Pacific brand (the ginger was to tangy for my throat).

·         Steamed kale and onions with turmeric and olive oil.

·         Morrey’s marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon from Costco.

·         Detox friendly Pumpkin Coconut Cream Pie and coconut whip cream.

·         Coconut yogurt, vanilla flavored mixed with Green Superfoods.

Next: Days 8,9,10 - Tonsillectomy