Life was great, I felt great, and I was happy at last. Billy and I reunited in August of 2016. I felt like a new person, rejuvenated with life. However, when we get too comfortable in life, life throws a curve ball. In April of 2017, I started having tingling sensations in my hands and feet. The sensation would creep up my legs. My way to explain what this felt like is to say 1,000 needles prickling me. My skin hurt. My clothes hurt my skin. The only remedy that I found for either of these was to take a long hot bath with Epsom salts and oils. I was also breaking out in a rash on my chest and back. In addition, I felt as though I was drowning in mucus.
Over and over I thought to myself, great what now, haven’t I been through enough. The pity-party almost started back up, but I was strong now and determined to get to the root cause of these symptoms. I consulted my general medical doctor and he ran a few blood-tests which came back showing that I had an autoimmune disorder. There are many and determining which one that I had proved to be a challenge. I had three blood tests in all indicating an autoimmune disorder.
My next step was to try a holistic healer; then, onto a rheumatologist. I will never forget that first day meeting him. He walked into the room and said, “Well, you certainly do not look sick to me.” Hmmmm, how do sick people look? How does one look when nobody seems to know what is wrong? So off and on, over the course of the next eight months, I was trying every vitamin or supplement that I could find. I sought out the advice of several doctors to no avail. Through divine intervention itself, I met a special friend who suggested that I see her doctor. I truly believe that God places people in our lives and exact the right time when we are supposed to meet them.
My first appointment with him was January 2nd. He sat and listened to me describe my symptoms for over an hour. At the end of the conversation, I anxiously looked to him as if to say okay what is my diagnosis. Unfortunately, it was not that simple. Diagnosing me would take several costly and intensive rounds of blood work. He did however say something that caught me of guard. He took my hand and said that he believed God brought me to him and for both of us to pray that God would give him the ability to heal me. Wow, no doctor had ever said that to me. I left his office with so much hope, more so than I had ever felt.
I am not in the medical field. Please take any information that I may share as coming from me in my laymen terms. My doctor’s medical diagnosis had actual definitions, but the words are foreign to me. The first round of blood work showed that I had inflammation (which explains the pain in my shoulder and back) and bad LOL-P and sdLDL-C which basically meant too many carbs in my blood. My hormone levels were so high he called me a walking heart attack and it put me very susceptible to breast cancer. My hormone levels had never been checked. I was placed on Estradiol 2 mg after my hysterectomy and that was it. Thirteen pages of blood test results that I did not understand, but the outcome was a very low carb diet, CoQ-10, Hormone Protect, Omega Mono Pure, and custom made hormones. We figured out that I have a leaky gut which by definition means a condition in which the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, causing undigested food particles, toxic waste products and bacteria to “leak” through the intestines and flood the blood stream.
In February, we rechecked some of the levels and a few were better, several were worse. Sidenote: I was drinking 1-2 bottles of Sam’s Choice Wild Cherry Flavored water per day. Google it, these bottles sit in warehouses and produce hormones. I immediately stopped drinking these and switched to lemon/lime water made with filtered water and fresh lemons and limes.
I had faithfully stuck to an 80 carb/day diet. I felt frustrated. More blood tests. This time we looked at histamine levels in my body. They were high, extremely high. The last test we ran was a food allergy test. I have had allergies my entire life which always seemed to be seasonal allergies; however, now with our weather, they are year long allergies.
Talk about a shocker. I had a list of 28 foods to eliminate from my diet immediately. I feel blessed that my list is not as extensive as some. Here are a few of mine: Avocado, black pepper, broccoli, carrots, clams, coffee, Cow’s milk, Crab, walnuts, ginger, gluten, green olives, green peppers (and red/yellow/orange), Hops (no beer), lettuce, oranges, plums, rice, shrimp, Soybean (which is in everything), tea, tomato (we have a huge garden), watermelon, potatoes (all except sweet), and yellow squash. Fortunately, I had given up fast food and processed food when I became sick the first time. Otherwise, those would have made it to the list. The hardest has been of course dairy and gluten. I am not a big candy eater, but this means no candy, no ice cream, no cottage cheese nor cheese, no bread (Gluten free bread is too high in carbs), no pasta, no Schwan chicken strips, lol, and no desserts.
If I do eat or drink something on my list, my immediate reaction is that my throat starts swelling shut and the mucus forms. I have a constant clearing of my throat that does not go away. On St. Paddy’s day, I ate two mozzarella sticks. A few hours later and I was in the bathroom feeling like the girl from The Exorcist with things coming out of every orifice. It is not a good feeling; yet, still at times, I want to push the boundaries and try something like strawberry pie with whip cream. I pay for it. I have learned to simply leave those items alone. We do have a huge garden with many tomato and pepper plants, so my hope is that after being off of these foods for six months, I can perhaps try my own, home-grown veggies.
Behind every cloud there is a silver lining, right? Well, mine is that I am finally feeling better. I think my doctor has me on the road to recovery. I have not taken a pain pill in over two months. My medicine now consists of supplements versus prescription pills. My side only hurts if I am stressed (which I need to quit stressing, right), or if I physically do too much, or am very tired. My daily schedule is demanding and if I did not feel well, I would not be able to do everything that I must do in one day. Throughout all of my blood testing we found out that I do not have the genetic marker for dementia nor Alzheimer which is fabulous news since this runs in my family.
In these past few months I have gotten married, went on a honeymoon, took care of my husband and our ranch after his shoulder surgery, and planted a garden. I still feel as though I am drowning in mucus at times, and my hands and feet still tingle. However, it is not as bad as it used to be. I feel better.
In all of this, I have never been given more than I could handle. I use my drive to and from work each day as my time to talk to God. In everything be thankful even if it is illness. I am still here on this Earth making a difference and changing lives. I have been given a beautiful life one that I choose to not take for granted. Throughout my journey, I have always had family and friends. There are many who are less fortunate than I and I see those daily.
Listen to your body. It knows when something is awry and it will tell you. A favorite saying of mine, “Someone else is dreaming of what you take for granted.” Never again will I take my health for granted.
Thank you for staying with me on this journey. I promise my next few entries will be about something exciting, like cows.
Much love,
D
Farm Life Rancher's Wife 
I am so glad to see you on the recovery road, and now have a wonderful marriage and life. Mom (Your great aunt Ellen, had Alzheimers. My Aunt Bobbie, has it. And my mother was late stage Dementia. The Roberts side definitely had it.
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Mom is in late stage dementia as well. Such a sad, sad disease.
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