A Wedding Picture Fantasy - The Procrastinated Version

One year and a month after the wedding. We've come full circle and I suppose now we're just going to keep going in circles until we live happily ever after. It's been a crazy year with limited time, energy, resources, and alcohol; and I just finally got around to putting together our wedding album. Isn't that the first project a new bride undertakes as soon as she unpacks from the honeymoon? Screw the thank you notes!  There is still a fading aura of wedding festivity that lingers and can be stretched out for a few more days. Or months.

If you've been keeping up, you know last year was rough. At first, I thought I was just a lazy unsuccessful home maker when it was taking such agonizing effort to get the laundry and the dishes done by the time my husband got into town.  He would be gone two or three days for business and I was living in neat, questionable piles until the last minute he came home, only for him to find me passed out on the middle of our bare floor with rogue socks about.  Last minute pressure was my greatest motivator. Little did I know that my joints were stiffening up and wheat products were piling up toxins in my lymph nodes so that I was becoming as dumb as a board.  I would simply make lists of everything I had wanted to achieve and would stare at it every once in a while.  Never has a person wanted to do tedious chores.

Now that I  refrain from specific food allergens and don't feel feel drunk every day, my first project was the wedding picture album. Our family home is devoid of history and we must build on the little bit we have accumulating;  except for a few masterpieces I hung on the staircase hall.   I was probably on a salad kick (with Adderall croutons) that day, so no brain fuzzies.  Probably also a full moon.

I've printed the riveting pictures taken as our wedding gift by Husband's long time friends;  now mine too. Their current website is on the blogroll of if you click here. The one where our wedding was featured is here.  See if you can find us! They are both a must see and worth considering if you live in Florida or can't find your good side.

You would think, living next door, a literal beer run away from Target Superstore, I would've easily taken care of this even throughout the early fog days I experienced.  You would think.  I have no excuse for that one.  Somewhere between too much headwork on which pictures to enlarge and money that I could use buying cats, it got put off.  But last week when I had a tiny window of energy, I marched right over and picked me up this eye-pleasing album:



I had almost ordered it online to save my swollen hips a bit of strain, but the walk came in handy, and it was $8 less at the store than on the website. Score! There are many more frilly, ostentatious  albums more reminiscent of a wedding event. There were some tasteful flowery ones, some with artistic cursive  'Love' lettering thrown up all over the cover,  and one that caught my eye with a slim white gown and a pink flower dotted on.  But I considered Husband in this decision and if it were pink, he would be more hesitant to leaf through it.  If it were full or roses, he would say, "It's nice" without even knowing what he was saying "It's nice" about.  So I went for the monochrome, elegant, fabric-covered, simple album that is very similar to our style, together.

Now, the disconcerting part to me about this little tale is that I eagerly tore into the pictures, ripped off the plastic cover like cat on catnip (a lot of cat references), and waited dramatically for that wedding excitement to sucker-punch me across the face all over again.  Nothing. I started inserting the 200 4x6s one by one. Halfway through I was bored. I tucked the remaining ones in the box and slid it into a corner to finish later. Where were all the lovey-dovey fluttery feelings? Was I supposed to slip on my wedding dress before I started this project for the clouds to part and radiant sun beams to shower down upon me and my wedding album? Eventually I got around to it, of course, while on the phone and multi-tasking without any solemnity put into the task.  But I must say, it does feel more complete to have the beginning our of little adventure ready for display or memory lane trips. The cat agrees.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Dang Cat claiming territory"][/caption]

And here's one of my favorites. This one if for you housewives trying to get domesticated:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Courtesy of Pietri Photography"][/caption]

 

The Autoimmune Epidemic and My Highlighting Skills

Today I look horrible, but I feel great.

No, that's wrong:

Today I feel horrible, but I look great!

And that's all that really matters.

Okay, but serious time now. Seriously. No jokes.  Seriously.

Before I knew what was developing in my body, I had heard about certain diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Mononucleosis,  Thyroiditis, Diverticulitis, and Diabetes 1.  I didn't know they were autoimmune diseases.  I didn't know what autoimmune was.  The first hint I got was about a year ago when doctors suspected I have Rheumatoid Arthritis; not your average arthritis.  That's when I learned what autoimmune was.  Had I not been forewarned about my active ANLs and ANAs, I still wouldn't know what an autoimmune disease really is.  I perused articles online (ignoring the severity of many, since Wikipedia states you're gonna die from the common cold). I scanned  books about RA. When I read about RA, it seemed so similar to Lupus. But I just couldn't have lupus, could I? It's such an ugly word and I prefer a disease with a cool name like Hodgkins or Syphilis.  It doesn't matter.  Lupus, RA, etc., they're all in the same family.

Then I found this book. The Autoimmune Epidemic.  Epidemic is a serious word.  And you're just gonna have to read for yourself how truly shocking and controversial this bug attacking my organs is, and how many people are at risk.  You thought cancer was popular?  I'm VIP.  (Not actually comparing the degrees and severity of the disease, just the occurrence). You can call it the indie disease, because the media sure isn't giving it any attention (unless they're pushing a med that causes incontinence).  Why not? Why is the general public unconcerned when it's very likely you know a few people suffering one of these autoimmune diseases?

If you don't like to read but are okay with skimming, I'll highlight parts of  the book excerpt below worth having in your memory bank. It's long so I don't blame you if you don't read it thoroughly. I borrowed this book from the library and since I was juggling books about allergen-free cookies and blogs, I only managed to read half.  The scary half.  I've yet to read the last hopeful half that won't make me want to hide the book in the freezer.

One last note: A reminder that this blog does not advocate Autoimmune Disease/Lupus Awareness.  At least not as adamantly as some dedicated superstars out there.  It's generally about how to live life with an obstacle in the way, which even the healthy have hurdles.  But since this is my obstacle, it will get mention from time to time when I find quality information....Now, scroll I say. Scroll!

http://donnajacksonnakazawa.com/autoimmune_epidemic_excerpt.htm

Foreword to
The Autoimmune Epidemic
by Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D.

As a faculty neurologist and neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland, I have spent the last decade evaluating and treating patients with autoimmune disorders of the nervous system. I founded and continue to direct the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis (TM) Center, the only center in the world dedicated to developing new therapies for this paralyzing autoimmune disorder. Increasingly, I see that more and more patients are being felled by this devastating disorder. Infants as young as five months old can get TM and some are left permanently paralyzed and dependent upon a ventilator to breathe. But this is supposed to be a rare disorder, reportedly affecting only one in a million people. Prior to the 1950s, there were a grand total of four cases reported in the medical literature. Currently, my colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and I hear about or treat hundreds of new cases every year. In the multiple sclerosis clinic, where I also see patients, the number of cases likewise continues to climb.

Autoimmune diseases have not always been this common. The prevalence of autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes is on the rise. In some cases, autoimmune diseases are three times more common now than they were several decades ago. These changes are not due to increased recognition of these disorders or altered diagnostic criteria. Rather, more people are getting autoimmune disorders than ever before.

Something in our environment is creating this crisis. What you will read about in the following pages is a powerful and touching and scholarly exposé of what those things may be.

The immune system in our bodies is charged with an amazingly complex task: to recognize and ignore all the cells and tissues within our body and—at the same time—to attack any and all “invaders,” foreign cells, viruses, bacteria, or fungi. Our wondrously complex immune system can successfully protect our bodies while recognizing and eliminating billions of distinct infections with which we come in contact. When functioning well, the immune system immediately recognizes a virus or bacteria that has gotten into our body and initiates a spirited and robust attack on the invader, allowing us to recover from a cold after only a few days. But this precisely choreographed dance between the immune system and the tissues it is designed to protect goes badly awry in autoimmune diseases. In such diseases, the immune system mistakes friend for foe and begins to attack the very tissues it was designed to protect. The soldiers guarding the castle turn and attack it.

But what triggers autoimmunity to occur? Throughout human history, our exposure to such myriad infectious agents has triggered an evolutionary arms race. Our immune system has evolved increasingly sophisticated countermeasures and recognition systems to combat the increasing diversity of the infectious agents with which we come in contact. But this increasing sophistication comes with a cost: an increased chance of the system breaking down. We have evolved right to the edge of the immune system’s capacity.

Now, over the last 40 years, something has been pushing that system over the edge. Something is causing the immune system to increasingly make mistakes in which the line becomes blurred, the immune system attacks the body itself, and autoimmune disease occurs. In all likelihood, much of the reason for this often catastrophic mistake of the immune system comes from the countless environmental toxins to which we are currently exposed—toxins that interfere with the way the immune system communicates with the rest of the body. To paraphrase W. B. Yeats, when that communication is lost “things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.”

The numbers are staggering: one in twelve Americans—and one in nine women—will develop an autoimmune disorder. And since it is clear that not every patient with an autoimmune disease is correctly diagnosed, the prevalence is certainly higher than that. The American Heart Association estimates that by comparison, only one in twenty Americans will have coronary heart disease. Similarly, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, one in fourteen American adults will have cancer at some time in their life. This means that an American is more likely to get an autoimmune disease than either cancer or heart disease. Yet we hear much more in the press about heart disease and cancer than we do about autoimmunity. And this silence is mirrored in relative funding by the National Institutes of Health, the major funding agency for biomedical research in the United States. Though the NIH has expanded funding for autoimmunity significantly over the last several years, the 2003 expenditure of $591.2 million is still only a fraction of the money spent for heart disease and cancer. The NIH budget for cancer is over 5 billion dollars, ten times that of autoimmune diseases. The NIH budget for cardiovascular disease is over 2 billion dollars, four times that of autoimmune diseases. We have not yet recognized the urgency of the autoimmune epidemic.

Why is the prevalence of autoimmunity increasing at such alarming rates? There is almost universal agreement among scientists and physicians that the environmental toxins and chemicals to which we are increasingly exposed are interfering with the immune system’s ability to distinguish self from non-self. Most of the risk of autoimmunity comes from environmental exposures rather than from genetic susceptibilities. So, have those environmental exposures changed over time? The answer is clearly yes. One example of this comes from a 2003 study in which blood and urine samples from Americans were tested for 210 substances, including industrial compounds, pollutants, PCBs, insecticides, dioxins, mercury, cadmium and benzene. The volunteers, none of whom had any occupational or residential risks for such exposure, had detectable levels of 91 of these. In other words, these are ordinary people with ordinary lives who have numerous toxins in their body from ordinary exposure. In a 2005 study, researchers found 287 industrial chemicals, including pesticides, phthalates, dioxins, flame-retardants, and the breakdown chemicals of Teflon, in the fetal cord blood of ten newborn infants from around the country—transmitted to the infants by their mothers’ exposures before and during pregnancy.

We are facing both an increasing prevalence of autoimmunity and an increasing exposure to environmental toxins. Is it clear that the increased exposure of environmental toxins is causing the increase in autoimmunity? Several lines of evidence suggest that this jury, too, has issued the verdict — “guilty.” Researchers recently showed that when added to the diets of rats, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, a breakdown chemical of Teflon and one of the chemicals found in the blood panel screenings mentioned above), causes significant impairments in the ability of rats to develop an appropriate immune response. Similarly, other researchers showed that mice given organochlorine pesticides were much more susceptible to getting the autoimmune disease lupus than control mice.

Are these data absolutely definitive? It’s not clear that the type of exposure these animals had is the same type that humans have. It’s not clear that lupus in animals is the same thing as lupus in humans. It’s not clear that a rodent’s immune system is the same as a human’s. Much more research needs to be done on this subject — in the form of both epidemiologic (human population studies correlated with exposures) and animal studies. Meanwhile, the difficulty in finding the smoking gun/definitive evidence of causality is increased exponentially by the number of chemicals to which we are exposed. Do we have to give animals the 287 compounds found in the fetal-blood-cord study cited above to examine their combinatorial effect on the immune system? Not only is such research impractical, it is unethical and probably still wouldn’t be viewed by some as definitive.

There are some who might say that this is nothing more than another case of ranting “the sky is falling” when it’s really not. I suspect those might be the same people who believe that the undeniable warming of the planet is simply a geological cycle that has nothing to do with human activity. But taking these positions—that environmental exposures are not adversely affecting our bodies’ health or that we are not causing our planet to get hotter—is dangerous. To miss the opportunity to change is to not only deny the evidence and miss what may be a fleeting opportunity to reverse these trends, but also, ultimately, a selfish position. What about our children and their children? If we have the opportunity to make a healthier future for them but fail to act either because of indifference or denial, what will tomorrow hold for them?

What is just as disturbing is that only 5.4 percent of the NIH budget for autoimmunity is dedicated to environmental factors that underlie autoimmunity. We need to recognize the urgency of the autoimmune epidemic. And we need to take steps to combat it. Future research is unlikely to define a single cause for autoimmunity, but rather varied triggers that include environmental exposures and infectious agents interacting in complex ways with an individual’s immune system. This research will, in all likelihood, clearly establish the link between these exposures and autoimmunity and will begin to define how these exposures cause autoimmunity. We won’t be able to eliminate autoimmunity in the future. Genetic predisposition and infectious triggers will always be with us. But the fight against autoimmunity needs to be fought on several levels: more extensive research, development of better therapies that more effectively treat these diseases, and action to decrease our environmental exposures. The last action will require personal responsibility, political action, and corporate accountability. If we do these things, autoimmunity will be a cluster of rare diseases that we treat with effective medicines. If we don’t, autoimmune diseases will increasingly devastate families, including five-month-old babies, and will increasingly tax our health-care system. If we don’t act now, it will be too late.

The book that follows is astounding. It is a combination of touching personal stories about individuals affected by autoimmune diseases and rigorous research of the medical and scientific literature. It is the kind of book that will scare you. It will make you angry. It will amaze you with the courage of some of the people described in the book. Ms. Nakazawa examines all of the theories about autoimmunity in detail, from heavy metals to toxic chemicals to viruses to vaccines and finally to the hygiene hypothesis. The Autoimmune Epidemic is every bit as compelling as Upton Sinclair’s groundbreaking novel The Jungle and every bit as necessary as An Inconvenient Truth, the startling movie featuring Al Gore and directed by Davis Guggenheim, that shows us that global warming is upon us and may at some point in the near future be irreversible.

You will leave this book with no reservations about the veracity of the conclusions: put simply, there is no doubt that autoimmune diseases are on the rise and our increasing environmental exposure to toxins and chemicals is fueling this rise. The research is sound. The conclusions unassailable.

Ms. Nakazawa introduces a term, “autogen,” used to describe chemical triggers of autoimmune disease, drawing upon the term “carcinogen,” which denotes chemical triggers of cancer. This term, which should become part of our society’s lexicon, may serve as the clarion call for change that emerges from this book. The change needs to take the forms of personal responsibility and societal change. Companies should have to determine the effect of chemicals in developing autoimmunity as well as cancer, and state and federal legislation is needed to compel corporations to make this happen. This book will inspire you to want to do something to protect yourselves and your loved ones; to do what you can to restore a healthy balance between our environment and our bodies. What that something is will vary depending on the individual. At a personal level, no single recommendation fits all individuals and the degree to which an individual alters his/her environment will depend on the levels of exposures and his or her susceptibility to autoimmunity. The Autoimmune Epidemic ends with a logical and empowering solution to protect yourself and your family and, in so doing, to begin the process of cleaning up our environment in order to help reestablish a balanced immune system in our bodies.

Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a necessary first step. Reading The Autoimmune Epidemic is a life-altering event. It needs to be.

A Berry Intense Smoothie for a Berry Berry Intense Day

Today was some day. I don't have as many bad days as you suspect. Not anymore. But it was some day.

I don't let poor health define a bad day, otherwise, I'd have them commit me where in a place where I can stare at barred windows, eat my green jello, and swallow Haldol everyday. Sad days aren't necessarily bad either, until its sad news with effects of a shelf-life lasting more than 12 hours. Lupus is not a reason to be down every day.  At least I'm here typing and not dictating narrative through a computer mouthpiece like Steven Hawking's. I accept the disease. What I don't accept... is the monarchical insurance business doing whatever the hell they want with my money and health!

No, a certifiable bad day means when I've been done wrong.  When the rage monster kicks in.  When I have no control over situations that are, for lack of a more refined word, idiotic.

Continuing my Russian novel about this Interstitial Cystitis ordeal that has already been irresponsibly delayed about eight days, now the "procedure" will have to be postponed another 10-plus days.  Coventry Insurance requires a 10-day Authorization wait. The waiting period to purchase a fire arm in Florida is 3 days! Be grateful you cannot see the vein gorging out from my forehead. I had already stopped taking the Tylenol/Percocet pain killers I need to tolerate my job. One would argue, "But its only been one day!". Then I would refute, but I woke up this morning feeling like I was kicked and beaten down by Crips and Bloods, causing me to arrive late to the job funding my "procedure", that the kind people at Coventry told me is covered, but they may or may not pay it at the time of the claim.

Since this ordeal started, I have had to get off a natural detoxification/lymphatic drainage treatment that was improving my health wonderfully.  Pain and inflammation still occurred, but my days were increasingly manageable and gearing up to the second phase, immune suppresion.  Now I'm off the treatment, running out of pain medication, running out of budget, and getting to work late most mornings. I'm sure everyone suspects this, but let me reiterate how hard it is to think straight when you're in severe pain!  And yes, I'm accentuating consonants to the point that the keyboard is spitting! Loud Noises!

*stops to take a deep breath and create a multi-sensory happy place*

Well, what's done is done. The bout of anger in me is going to have to put on the dunce cap, because being upset creates more headaches, exhaustion, and 'poofy face'. I'll handle this tomorrow and see what my options are.

For today, I must rise above my BF (b*tch fit), take care of myself, and center my whacked out chi.  When I cannot take anymore narcotics for inflammation, food is my medicine.

Let thy food be thy medicine.  -Hippocrates

I try to include anti-inflammatory foods in all my meals with the exception of occasional sliding.  With ruffled feathers, I marched myself into Walmart and started immediately calming down as I found myself selecting healing foods.  Usually I take the time to bargain shop, buy seasonally, get whats on sale. Today I went straight to the frozen section (No cans. I'm not sure why, but I can't tolerate canned foods.) where everything was in one isle, loaded up the cart. I hastily needed to dine on berries, get a little boost, and get to move my joints freely! No serious chopping required.

I had gotten the idea and reminder to eat smart from this well-informed blogger earlier. I will be making a Fatigue Fightin' Smoothie similar to hers in that it's made with fruits packed with antioxidants and other amazing properties. It will be experimental because I loved her spinach idea! Just add fat-free plain greek yogurt and ice:

http://hersilverlining.blogspot.com/2010/12/fatigue-fightin-smoothies.html

But here are the ones I bought, and I did the work for you if you want to know what are their beneficial properties. I always look up a fruit when I'm enjoying it. Oh Poo! I forgot the kiwis. Without further ado, Fruity Fruits!:



Strawberries (I lied, I got these got in produce, on sale, and left the frozen bag in the fruit area. That ain't right.):

http://www.naturalfoodbenefits.com/display.asp?CAT=1&ID=65

Blueberries:

http://www.naturalfoodbenefits.com/display.asp?CAT=1&ID=25

Blackberries:

http://www.antioxidants-guide.com/health_benefit_of_blackberries.html

Cherries:

http://www.cherrieshealthbenefits.com/

Raspberries:

http://www.naturalfoodbenefits.com/display.asp?CAT=1&ID=40

The wild card, Spinach:

http://www.examiner.com/natural-health-in-tulsa/healing-with-foods-spinach


As you read (if you curiously explored the links), all the fruits ending in 'ies' are chock-full of home remedies.  You don't have to be ill to benefit highly from a blend of berries.  If you're extra tired lately, suspect chronic fatigue syndrome, suffer headaches, have arthritis, bursitis, or any autoimmune condition, it will only make life easier to drink these more regularly.  As a matter of fact, if you need more energy, drop all white bread and white rice, and if you're really intent on getting healthy, all bread and wheat products for a few days so that the fruits and veggies can start working through your blood, muscles, and joints without interference.  Had I not been sticking a healthy diet, I would've been incarcerated for assault and battery to innocent bystanders after today's emotional frustrations.  But after being on a doctor-ordered anti-inflammatory diet, hard situations are a little bit clearer and easier to put in perspective.

I leave you with that. Off to do some zenful Classical Stretch.

*Later that night:





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="174" caption="Fightin Fatigue Smoothie"][/caption]

In a Dewar's glass none the less. It was rich and delicious. I used less yogurt, 2 large tablespoons. No spinachy taste, but all the Popeye'd benefits. It was delish! I'll put Robeks out of business.