Month: April 2014

MY FIRST BEST FRIEND

I had no idea when I was born, that my first best friend was already here waiting for me.

My cousin, Danielle, is 6 weeks older than i am and we pretty much grew up attached at the hip any chance we got.  Neither of us had sisters so we became that to each other.

My house was right next door to my grandparent’s home and so every time she visited them, which was quite often, I got to see her.  We did everything together, from barbies to cabbage patch kids, from building sand castles to playing in tree forts, from blazing trails through the woods and carving trees to making

Fenton Chiropractor Best Friendup stories as we spent hours out playing in the apple orchard.

We talked about our hopes and dreams and made plans for our lives.  I was always so jealous she got to go to Girl Scout Camp every summer…but she made up for it by teaching me all the songs she learned when she returned.  In fact, that radio in my head that plays music non-stop sometimes gets locked on that channel and as a 30-something…those songs stuck on repeat are more annoying than cool.

To this day, we make time for each other.  She is one of my biggest cheerleaders, and although she doesn’t allow many to cheer for her, I am one of hers.  There seems to be a length of time, that if we go past too many days without having time to sit down and catch up with each other, we both go a little crazy and make time in our schedules right away.

I sent her a text message on Friday morning about how excited I was about going to the Water Hill Music Festival in Ann Arbor next weekend, and although I knew it was still another week away, I was stoked to have some time to hang out.  I had just seen her 5 days prior as her and her husband, Scott, along with a group of my nearest and dearest, spent the evening celebrating my birthday at my home.

On Friday, she didn’t respond back to that text message right away and after a few minutes she called.  She doesn’t ever call, we don’t need to talk on the phone, we already know what each other is usually thinking so text and email are our norm.

Her voice was cracking.  She was seriously shakin’ up.  Then she proceeded to tell me that Scott, her husband, had a brain hemorrhage and is in the hospital and asked if I could come up.  I had a couple obligations that day and headed up as soon as i could.

I have spent the past 2 days with my heart breaking right along side her, and I feel like these days are just the beginning of a long road.  She is one of the strongest and bravest that i know.  She has had her share, plus some, of adversity and challenge in her life.  She keeps her head up through all of it.  She plugs away and she always comes out on top.  She is one incredible woman and I know those who really know her feel lucky.

Her and her husband have the most beautiful love story, reconnecting after so many years and blending their family, his 2 kids and her 2 kids.  They have a really sweet love that is palpable when you are around them.  They perfectly compliment each other.

Right now she spends her moments sitting at his bedside, and only leaves to close her eyes and sleep on an uncomfortable pull-out/fold down chair thing a couple rooms away.  She talks to him, dodges all the tubes and medical apparatus to kiss him, loves on him, plays music for him (he is a music man) and holds his hand for hours on end.

He has shown signs of improving.  Will he come out of the state he is in?  We don’t know.  Will he return to the Scott we are used to?  We don’t know that either.  How long will it take?  We all wish we knew that answer but we don’t know anything at this point.

What I do know, what I am sure of is that she will be ok.  There are going to be moment to moment, hour to hour, and day to day ups and downs.  She is the strongest and bravest that I know of.  I will not be able to stand with her all the time during this process as I have obligations in my life I need to tend to, but I leave my heart with her when I am not there.

I am writing this blog from the rawest place in my being.  My heart has been ripped out of my chest these past 2 days and i want to share this story because my family needs all the praying, meditating, affirmation-saying people we can get.  I am sending out a request to all the troops to please help lift up my first best friend and her husband.  They could really use your help right now.  Peace.

 

 

 

 

ADDICTION

I have uncovered an intense addiction I had no idea about.

Ten months ago, I began a new and different journey with my health.  Many of the “healthy” things I was doing, especially where my diet was concerned, weren’t the most complete choices I could be making.  Unbeknownst to me, I was chronically depleting my body of a few key nutrients that eventually led to disfunction of certain organ systems.  Good news, it was all fixable and 70% of that has been taken care of by diet change and a tailored plan of supplementation.

There still remains a few nagging small concerns and 2 of them fall on the “autoimmune” spectrum.Fenton Chiropractor Gluten Free

I have been working closely with a nutritionist on this path and have come to the conclusion that going “gluten-free” was a necessity and so 10 weeks ago, I began my gluten-free journey.

I knew it was going to be a little challenging, however I have succeeded in completing harder tasks in my life, or at least that is what I thought when I got started.

Living in a small town is a challenge in and of itself due to the simple fact that there aren’t many resources.  Fortunately for Fenton, there are 2 really great health food stores right in town and one of them tailors their entire store to the gluten-free popluation.

Day 1 of my new life was simple.  I was highly aware of the shift I was making and so there was a lot on my mind, lets just say I was obsessing about food.

Day 2 started and ended pretty easily and the change appeared to be progressing smoothly.

Day 3…not so much.  It turns out that I fall into a category of people that are “addicted” to gluten.  When I sat back and watched what was coming up for me as well as discussions with my nutritionist, I became keenly aware that about every 3 days, I need a “gluten fix”.  I needed something to spike my sugars and give me that endorphin kick.

So I pressed on and for the next 4-5 days, it was an hour by hour choice to not eat anything containing gluten.  Of course, because I was so focused on getting over the hump with this process, all I could think about was eating gluten.  As the days ticked by, I watched as my body’s cravings decreased little by little.

Three weeks into this process, a mourning phase set in.  I remember driving home from the gym and passing by Uncle Ray’s Dairyland and becoming overwhelmingly sad because I was never going to be able to eat cookie dough ice cream ever again in my life.  Do you know how much cookie dough ice cream I have eaten in the past decade?  Maybe one serving.  It is not something that I have on a regular basis, however in that moment, that was really sad to me.

Over the next couple weeks I came to terms with WHAT I EAT and WHAT I DO NO’T EAT and it is as simple as that.  I stay strict and do not allow for little slip-ups. With gluten, and especially when dealing with gluten addiction, it is not something you can have “here and there” or “once in a while”.  For me, I have to remain clean and clear of it altogether.

Today it has officially been 10 full weeks.  When I first started, I thought it would be a bit challenging.  In retrospect, I have to say it has been one of the hardest things I have done, but now that I am here on the other side, I am happy, healthier and will keep my life free and clear of gluten.

I have never dealt with an addiction before in my life and though this is to a mildly noxious substance, I have a bit more compassion to those who deal with addiction of any sort on a daily basis.  It seems as I go through life, I am presented with lessons that do exactly that, build more compassion.  I also believe that being compassionate is one of the keys to living a happy, healthy and well-rounded life…or at least I hope so.  Thank you for this lesson, Universe!!