A New Doctor Experience...

Going to a new Doctor's Office is STRESSFUL...yeah I used all caps, cuz that is how I felt this morning...

I never know exactly who to tell all the info to.  Do I tell the poor nurse taking my blood pressure or do I wait and tell the Doctor?  I have a long list of issues and the list just keeps getting longer as the years go by.

I remember when I was 23 the hardest question they asked was when my last cycle started.

When I was 25 it was when my last shot of hormones was given.

When I was 27, 28, and 29, I practically lived at my OBGYN's office.  I swear I saw him 3 times a week for both of my pregnancies.  Why do you have to pee in a cup at each and every appointment? Is one's pee really all that interesting...And why is my pee not interesting now??  No uterus means no more cups??  No idea...

So anyway, I'm 36 now and I get asked all kinds of hard questions now...and I never know how much to say.  I have a ruptured disc in my spin, L5 to be exact, when they ask "How'd that happen?" Do I tell them I was chasing my son through the Sears parking lot or do I say I took a step when there was actually a step down and fell smack on my tailbone.  Then to make matters worse a year later I was rear ended and injured my back even further...I can't sit cross legged anymore...

Then they say "Well what kind of exercise are you getting?".....Ummmm, not much...remember the tailbones constantly grinding together, it kinda makes things difficult.  "I swim in the warmer months when I have money in the budget to go to the pool."

"Your cholesterol is a little higher than we'd like, it is 100, and with diabetes it should really be at 70, have you made any changes to fix that?"  Ummm, no, I thought 100 was okay, but as of January I haven't eaten a single fast food meal because my daughter is gluten free.  "Oh, well that would have made an improvement!"

Then we start discussing all the medicines I am on and none of them are the right dosage or even close to being beneficial.  That makes me angry.  I made this appointment with a new office because I felt my other doctor wasn't listening to me.  Now not only was she not listening to me, she wasn't even helping me!

But there is GOOD NEWS...my A1C dropped from 8.0 to 7.2!!  That is awesome!!  I have NO IDEA what I am doing to get my diabetes under control, but whatever it is, it is working!!  And now that my medicines will actually be effective, my diabetes will get even better!!

We did the blood panel to test for Celiac.  I am not going to do the biopsy.  I just cant afford that procedure right now, and from all of the reports I've read the results aren't 100% accurate anyway.  I know that eating gluten free makes me feel better, so that is what I'm going to do.  I wanted the blood panel for peace of mind mostly.

I know this is really all over the place, but it was my day at the doctor.  My thoughts and what happened...

What stresses you out when you go to a new doctor? 
What LOW impact exercise to you recommend?
How do you pick a new doctor?

~XOXO~

Alisha

You can often find me at these Parties!

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10 Day YOU Challenge: {Day 2} 9 Loves

9 Loves

This is going to be so super easy, too easy...

My first thought was to list off 9 foods that I really really love and have yet to replace in a gluten free replica.  

But, there really aren't 9 foods that I can't have, only one...

So, when I lived in Miami, I lived in Coconut Grove, which is a more upper class area of Miami.  I was a hick from Texas, working at a deli that sold $1000 bottles of wine and fresh bagels made daily.

If you've never had a fresh bagel, you are in for a treat.  They taste nothing like what is sold at the grocery store.  They are soft and so very chewy, mmmmm, just good!!

1)The only way to eat a bagel in my opinion is with cream cheese, tomato, and salt & pepper.  I LOVE THIS!


I am thinking the rest of the list will be pretty straight forward...Maybe a picture or two…

2) Pedicures.  I love to go get a pedicure.  Not only do I get pretty toes, but I get time with my girlfriends and a bonus back massage.  (all of the spas here have massaging pedicure chairs)

3) My husband's shoulder/chest...there is this spot that my head fits perfectly.  No matter what is happening, if I lay down in that spot, and he plays with my hair, I will pass out and sleep like a baby for at least 4 hours.  I love that he lets me take a nap when I need one.  I love that there are days that he says "come on you need to go take a nap."  I love that, even though my insomnia is a hassle and really a major pain in the rear, he is understanding most of the time.

4) My son's imagination.  He is amazing!  When he was about 3, we watched Eragon.  For months after, he would tell me stories about his dragon that lived on our roof and ate his corn dogs.  His dragon took all the leaves off our oak tree for his bed and then sneezed and they got all over our yard.  His dragon also decided that he was only allowed to eat chocolate and broccoli.  That one was a little difficult!  His imagination has matured as he has...he now draws robots and creates lego master pieces.  He plays with his voice, creating a new sound every 5 minutes.  This may not actually be a love...most of them are high pitched & squeaky!

5) "Oh I'm a pepper He's a pepper She's a pepper We're a pepper Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too!"  I am a HUGE Diet Dr. Pepper Drinker...I probably have more DDP in my blood stream than actual blood.  Yes, I drink that much...

REFORMED as of a week ago (2/13), I have not had a drop of DDP...I went through detox & everything!!

6) Cracking open a new book and falling in love.  I LOVE to read.  I love learn about the characters and picture them in my head.  I really do not like watching a movie before I've read the book.  If left a lone, I could sit and read an entire book cover to cover, in an afternoon.

7) Watching my children grow.  I always hated when people would say, "You'll understand when you're a mother", but, here I am saying it...They is just no way to put into words the exact emotion that comes from watching your child grow.  It is joy, love, fear, sadness, excitement, and so much more all rolled into one...I love it!

8) Winter.  I love Winter...but I have to explain...I live in South Texas, we have 9 months of sweltering 100 degree summer, and 3 months of bipolar winter.  I say bipolar winter, because Mother Nature just can't decide what to do...
Here is an actual weather forecast

• Monday 50 & Foggy
• Tuesday 87 & Humid
• Wednesday 70 & Foggy
• Thursday 60 & Drizzle
• Friday 50 & Rain
• Saturday 90 & Humid

And we all wonder why we keep getting sick.  It is wet, then dry, then hot, and then cold...
I would love to live in a climate that had all 4 seasons, with trees that changed colors and you actually needed to own a winter coat. 

9) My Husband and Children...they are my everything.  I love them more than anything else.  Without them none of the above would matter at all.  We are a small little family, but we are strong and solid.  We laugh at each other and with each other, we help when help is needed and we support without being asked.  We love with our whole hearts and we do our best to always share our true feelings.

To learn all there is about me visit the Who are We page.
You can also read about my 10 Secrets here. 

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Day One...well, technically Day Two...

Avery's Day of GF

Breakfast: 1 Fried Egg at home and then Milk and a sausage patty at school.  Kids bugged her about not having the biscuit, so I'm not sure breakfast will happen often...

Lunch: Baked Potato with Butter, Cheese, and Bacon Bits brought from home.  Milk from school.

Dinner: Ann's Organic G-Free Chili over Tater Tots sprinkled with Cheese.

Tummy started at a 5 and now down to about a 2...

My Day of Learning all about GF....mind melting to say the least...

Soooo many of the symptoms that I have read about are things that Avery has had.  But I never tied them all together.  I would ask doctors and they all treated me like I was a crazy mom and give me silly lotions and creams to rub all over her rashes and hives.  Every time she complained of her stomach hurting I thought it was because she wanted to get out of school or whatever chore I wanted done at the time.  I seriously feel like mother of the year here...

Tuesday morning Avery was complaining yet again about her stomach hurting.  I said in my most threatening mother voice " Fine you can stay home, but I'm taking you to my doctor today." Thinking surely this would change her tune and cause her to jump up and get ready for school.  It didn't.  So, there she was following me into her first grown up doctor's appointment.  As the doctor pressed on her bloated belly and tears came to Avery's eyes, I knew then that 1) I was officially the worst Mom on the planet. 2) I was going to do everything in my power to FIX this and 3) I would never doubt her again.

Back tracking just a bit...last Easter a relative was singing the praises of being on a gluten free diet.  I read a few articles, thought..."hmmm, wonder if that would help Avery and her tummy, I'll give it a try this summer."  I bought a bunch of Uncle Ben's Rice Mixes, got rid of all of our noodles, didn't cook anything with obvious gluten for several weeks and yet Avery still complained often of her stomach hurting, so I scraped the gluten free diet...it was a pain in the ass anyway.

Okay back to yesterday at the doctor...After a very tense round of poking and prodding and embarrassing questions about poop (Avery is a modest girl) the doctor started asking me a bunch of questions about her.  Yes she had reflux as an infant.  Yes she often has rashes.  Yes I cant seem to tie this to any one food.  No none of the over the counter meds have ever worked to ease the discomfort. Yes she has complained of headaches.  The doctor was quite for a few minutes looking over all the notes and then she said, "Well, I'm not going to say Celiac Disease  just yet, but definitely Gluten Intolerant and you must avoid 100% of wheat gluten."

"Go Gluten Free" I ask.  "Yes" she say, "completely gluten free.  There are great resources on the internet about what she will be able to eat from this point on.  When in doubt just stick to the most natural state of the food...i.e grilled rather than breaded and fried."  "Ohhhhh.... Okay.... we can do this." I say, thinking back to such a failure I was at it this summer.  Then the doctor says in a very stren voice..." This is forever.  She MUST do this 100% forever."

"Oooooohhh forever" I say.

Forever.  Forever is a really long time.  A reallllly reaaaalllllyyyyy really llllllooooonnnnngggggg time.  So I pack my sweet daughter in the car and take her for her last meal.  She feasted on chicken tenders and white country gravy like it was prepared by Paula Deen herself.

Once home, I dove right into every gluten free blog I could find and brought myself to tears numerous times.  All the signs were there, I just never knew what I was looking at...included Avery in a game plan on what she wanted to do about lunches and eating at school.   Really thought she was handling things like a champ and accepting the changes in stride. 


Boy, was I wrong....

Today, I made lists of fun lunch ideas and easy dinner dishes that I already cook.  Made a grocery list and took Avery with me to HEB.  She did great in the produce section.  Pointed out all the gluten free peanut butter at the end of the bread isle. She was disappointed that there weren't any gluten free Little Debbie Snack Cakes.  Didn't understand the point of buying lunch meat if she can't eat it in a sandwich.  And completely broke down in tears in front of the mac-n-cheese.  We stood in that isle for a good 20 minutes.  I let her cry.  I didn't shush her or make apologies to people passing by.  After about 15 minutes of solid tears, I started talking to her about how things were different now, but not terrible.  The foods that she can eat are special because they are better for her and they will keep her healthy and strong.  She kept crying and wasn't going for any of that.  Then I said, "the only thing that going gluten free really means is that now I have to learn to cook!"  She started laughing.  She liked that.  So everything that she saw that she wanted but couldn't have we would say "ohhh, gonna have to learn to cook that"...RITZ Crackers is one of her first requests!

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