So Much Change, So Little Time!

So, apparently, I’m really bad at this blogging thing.  I failed to give a formal update for week 2 and 3, so I will recap it briefly here:

Week Zero:  Chronic Pain, Exhaustion, Losing Mobility, Extreme Frustration

Week One:  No change in the above, add more exhaustion, add grumpiness.

Week Two:  Starting to be easier, No Change in Pain, Constant Cravings

Week Three:  Kicked off with the Flu, I feel AMAZING, Am I Floating?

Week Four:  I still miss coffee, More Energy, More Focus, Less Pain, Need Less Sleep

I am about to start the last 3 days of the diet… but I now know they won’t be my last three days.  Actually, eating Whole30 approved meals has become quite easy.  It is amazing how quickly you can develop a habit!  Other than cravings, week 2 was fairly simple.  I had a little less pain, but this was also due to my new pain medication and physical therapy, so I wasn’t ready to attribute it to the diet.  Week three started with the flu – gross.  I hate the flu.  On that note, this was actually the easiest flu I’ve ever dealt with!  I’ve never handled being sick so well!

(<Fresh Oranges from the tree, fresh berries and eggs from the farmer's market, and my own Whole30 ingredient approved Berry Bake!  (not technically allowed on Whole30 since it is "Bread-ish" but it is the ingredients I'm focusing on!))

On day 18 I woke up and felt AMAZING! 

That day I was supposed to go back and see my new doctor (Rheumatologist), regarding my blood work results and MRIs.  She didn’t want to give me the results over the phone… that’s usually a bad sign.  Anyway, I went through my new morning routines and tried to figure out what was missing.  Something was definitely missing.  Had I lost something?  Was I supposed to be somewhere?  What the heck was missing?  I also felt insanely light, like if I didn’t focus on staying on the ground I might just float up into the sky.  Something wasn’t right… then, close to noon it hit me.  I wasn’t in pain.  I wasn’t in any pain.  No pain!  Not anywhere!  I hadn’t experienced life without pain in at least 6 years.  I had become so used to my constant pain that I felt wrong without it… but also full of joy.  I felt like I could do anything!  Luckily, I went to my doctor appointment with this joy, because the news I received was not terrific.

Among other things, my doctor informed me that I had positive markers for at least 4 additional autoimmune diseases.  That’s right, on top of my genetic condition I may have 4 autoimmune diseases as well!  That’s when I received the wonderful news that she couldn’t officially diagnose or dismiss these diseases without further tests.  As a young woman who never imagined needing to do this until I was a grandma, I was informed that I needed to go in for a … colonoscopy.  Not only that, but I was required to make appointments with a urologist, ophthalmologist, and cardiologist.  More pokes, prods, and tubes.  Yay me!  I handled all of the information amazingly well.  Nothing could diminish the freedom and joy I felt from being relieved of pain.  I’ll have to tell you more about the results from all of those doctors in a future post (seeing as those appointments haven’t taken place yet!).  During the following days, I still experienced some pain, but I also had energy, clarity of mind, and the ability to focus.  I felt like I was waking up!  My pain continued to decrease slowly over the next few days.

Starting out on week 4, I developed one of my recurring UTIs, packed too much in my schedule, and ended up sick AGAIN. I get sick a lot. All that being said, I was still in dramatically less pain, had more energy, was able to focus, and felt truly alive. This brings us mostly up to current. I’ve definitely had some moments of frustration and blues with being sick so much. I feel like other than that one day of bliss, I’ve dealt with something every day of this diet. Whether it was brutal styes, the flu, a head cold, a chest cold, or a UTI, something has constantly been wrong. If you think about it, it is rather amazing I feel as terrific as I do considering all of the ailments I’ve had throughout the month! I am beyond proud of myself for making it this far and have designed unexpected plans for the “post Whole30” part of my life. Let’s talk about plans and the future in the next post!