As I go through things that have been in storage for over a year, I am getting rid of LOTS of it. Including my Teflon pans. Why? Oh, just the carcinogen in them. The EPA and companies who make Teflon have agreed to have the cancer-causing agent out of Teflon by 2015. So stainless steel it is for me. Good thing I have my spray-able grape seed and coconut oils.
I have also ridded myself of products with aluminum in them. Such as: antiperspirant (I found some 'natural' stuff without it), baking soda (I just learned that aluminum-free baking soda exists), and, well, aluminum. It is linked to cancer, breast cancer in particular. Carrageenan is also a carcinogen, and is found in some brands of almond milk and other drinks.
I only put on my skin stuff I could eat. Everything I put on my skin gets absorbed into my body, going to my blood, and well, everywhere. So my lotion is organic and made of stuff I could ingest. My soap is the same. One day, when I have hair to wash again, I'll use shampoo along these lines too.
Perhaps one day I'll even try making lotion...nah, that's not going to happen.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Attitude
What is it like to feel happy all of the time?
I don't know, but I do like to focus on the positive.
Lately I have felt a bit frustrated. I guess since I stopped the chemo drug I thought I'd feel 100% all the time. I don't feel awful, but I still feel tired. My legs feel achy, and I can only stand for so long each day. I get to decide what I do, then when my legs are done, they are done. I'm hoping that my legs will regain their strength when I'm all done with treatment.
At times I feel incredibly task oriented, and like to check off the list. These leg aches have limited my ability to organize my new house, slowed down trying fun new recipes, made boxes needing to be recycled pile up, and allowed me to read a lot.
Slow down?
What?
Who does that?
Well, now I do. I don't I think I would have otherwise. I get too excited to shop EARLY in the morning, or to clear out a room, or scrub the bathroom.
Meditating has helped, and reading with my girls has also helped me slow down. The fact that breakfast takes longer to put together has helped me slow down. I can't just grab something and run out the door. Smoothies are quick, but take more thought than a granola bar (I used to live on Clif Bars).
Two boxes a day. I unpack about two a day, and I'm good. When I need to rest, we pull out a game or a book, and I SIT DOWN. That's new for me too.
The attitude I'm going for is Joy in the Journey.
The journey of achy legs = joy
The journey of two boxes a day = joy
The journey of slowing down = joy
The journey of doing first grade homework = joy
The journey of being late = joy
I allow myself to find joy in my journey, wherever it may take me, and to love along the way.
I don't know, but I do like to focus on the positive.
Lately I have felt a bit frustrated. I guess since I stopped the chemo drug I thought I'd feel 100% all the time. I don't feel awful, but I still feel tired. My legs feel achy, and I can only stand for so long each day. I get to decide what I do, then when my legs are done, they are done. I'm hoping that my legs will regain their strength when I'm all done with treatment.
At times I feel incredibly task oriented, and like to check off the list. These leg aches have limited my ability to organize my new house, slowed down trying fun new recipes, made boxes needing to be recycled pile up, and allowed me to read a lot.
Slow down?
What?
Who does that?
Well, now I do. I don't I think I would have otherwise. I get too excited to shop EARLY in the morning, or to clear out a room, or scrub the bathroom.
Meditating has helped, and reading with my girls has also helped me slow down. The fact that breakfast takes longer to put together has helped me slow down. I can't just grab something and run out the door. Smoothies are quick, but take more thought than a granola bar (I used to live on Clif Bars).
Two boxes a day. I unpack about two a day, and I'm good. When I need to rest, we pull out a game or a book, and I SIT DOWN. That's new for me too.
The attitude I'm going for is Joy in the Journey.
The journey of achy legs = joy
The journey of two boxes a day = joy
The journey of slowing down = joy
The journey of doing first grade homework = joy
The journey of being late = joy
I allow myself to find joy in my journey, wherever it may take me, and to love along the way.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Happy 2014!
I got to see my PET scan images today. They were pretty cool. My doctor even showed me the first ones that were taken back in October so we could compare them frame by frame. As of last week there is no detectable cancer anywhere in my body.
Um, HURRAY! That is freaking AWESOME!
All the glowing balls that meant cancer in the first set of images were gone in the second set. All of them. Gone.
Now I get to stop chemotherapy...that's a relief. Because of my unhappy side effects my doctor agreed to stop the taxol (chemotherapy drug) now, but I still get to take the other two that are antibody drugs (do I hear a whoop! whoop!?).
I'm so happy it's gone. I admit that the changes I've made have been challenging, but they are so worth it that I'm keeping them.
On another note, someone asked me to keep posting all the stuff I'm doing...
So a couple of things I have not mentioned before:
> I take a probiotic daily - research indicates that healthy bacteria in the colon improves the overall health of our bodies.
> I met an essential oil from doTERRA called DDR Prime. Studies show that is has reduced the size of tumors in breast and other cancers. Something about stimulating healthy cell growth. So I thought, 'why not, I'll give it a shot!' It is available for either oral or topical use. I opted for topical. So I rubbed it on my skin over where I knew I had cancer. Pretty easy.
> I eat sauerkraut everyday. It promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon. This took me a bit to get used to, but now I really like it. It's especially good with avocado, potatoes, or quinoa.
> I drink mineral salt, similar to Himalayan salts. They restore minerals our bodies are missing. Usually when our bodies are craving sugar, they really need salt: good, healthy salt. I love taking it.
Thank you for sharing with me in my happy news.
Um, HURRAY! That is freaking AWESOME!
All the glowing balls that meant cancer in the first set of images were gone in the second set. All of them. Gone.
Now I get to stop chemotherapy...that's a relief. Because of my unhappy side effects my doctor agreed to stop the taxol (chemotherapy drug) now, but I still get to take the other two that are antibody drugs (do I hear a whoop! whoop!?).
I'm so happy it's gone. I admit that the changes I've made have been challenging, but they are so worth it that I'm keeping them.
On another note, someone asked me to keep posting all the stuff I'm doing...
So a couple of things I have not mentioned before:
> I take a probiotic daily - research indicates that healthy bacteria in the colon improves the overall health of our bodies.
> I met an essential oil from doTERRA called DDR Prime. Studies show that is has reduced the size of tumors in breast and other cancers. Something about stimulating healthy cell growth. So I thought, 'why not, I'll give it a shot!' It is available for either oral or topical use. I opted for topical. So I rubbed it on my skin over where I knew I had cancer. Pretty easy.
> I eat sauerkraut everyday. It promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon. This took me a bit to get used to, but now I really like it. It's especially good with avocado, potatoes, or quinoa.
> I drink mineral salt, similar to Himalayan salts. They restore minerals our bodies are missing. Usually when our bodies are craving sugar, they really need salt: good, healthy salt. I love taking it.
Thank you for sharing with me in my happy news.
Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
What I Learned from a PET Scan
> The "berry smoothie" drink I was given to highlight my digestive system is the worst smoothie ever. It's even worse than my kale, hemp seed surprise.
> Sitting alone in a dark room at 7 am when my baby kept me up a lot the night before equals a nap.
> Finding a nurse on the fourth floor at 6:30 am to access my port is more involved than the radiology nurse made it sound.
> PET stands for Positron Emissions Tomography. That sounds fancy!
> Being radioactive is painless.
> As nice as the technicians and nurses are, sometimes they still refer to patients as "that lady."
> Sitting alone in a dark room at 7 am when my baby kept me up a lot the night before equals a nap.
> Finding a nurse on the fourth floor at 6:30 am to access my port is more involved than the radiology nurse made it sound.
> PET stands for Positron Emissions Tomography. That sounds fancy!
> Being radioactive is painless.
> As nice as the technicians and nurses are, sometimes they still refer to patients as "that lady."
Thursday, December 26, 2013
New Friends
We moved last week.
I have some new friends:
1- Latex gloves. They protect my very dry, cracked, bleeding fingers from water, other kitchen dangers, and boxes. As one of the unforeseen side effects of chemo, my skin is amazingly dry. Wearing latex gloves when I cook, clean, open boxes, or sort through stuff has eased the pain of my hands a lot.
2- Keith's pocket box cutter. It cuts tape and boxes and makes opening them or collapsing them a breeze.
3- Curious George cartoons on You Tube. They have entertained my baby many times when I needed to pack, clean, cook or unpack. Now I just need to wean her off of them.
4- Essential oils. I have been standing A LOT this past week, and a consequence has been increased neuropathy in my lower legs and feet. Using oils and resting my legs has helped a great deal. I really just need to figure out how to set up a household while sitting down reading a book.
5- Main floor laundry. No walking laundry up or down stairs. Enough said.
I'm sure that my neighbors are nice, and I've met a few who seem great. Soon I hope to add people to my list of new friends.
I have some new friends:
1- Latex gloves. They protect my very dry, cracked, bleeding fingers from water, other kitchen dangers, and boxes. As one of the unforeseen side effects of chemo, my skin is amazingly dry. Wearing latex gloves when I cook, clean, open boxes, or sort through stuff has eased the pain of my hands a lot.
2- Keith's pocket box cutter. It cuts tape and boxes and makes opening them or collapsing them a breeze.
3- Curious George cartoons on You Tube. They have entertained my baby many times when I needed to pack, clean, cook or unpack. Now I just need to wean her off of them.
4- Essential oils. I have been standing A LOT this past week, and a consequence has been increased neuropathy in my lower legs and feet. Using oils and resting my legs has helped a great deal. I really just need to figure out how to set up a household while sitting down reading a book.
5- Main floor laundry. No walking laundry up or down stairs. Enough said.
I'm sure that my neighbors are nice, and I've met a few who seem great. Soon I hope to add people to my list of new friends.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Allowing
My new favorite word is ALLOW.
I allow others the freedom to be who they are.
I allow others to have their emotional stuff/baggage and I don't have to fix it.
I allow them to be who they are without trying to change them.
I allow them to be, without my judgement.
I allow them to be happy, peaceful, successful, and to be safe and free.
I allow them to be them without my intervention.
I allow myself to be me.
I allow me to be beautiful, smart, happy, positive, fun, and healthy.
I will not downplay who I am for others to feel better.
I allow them their insecurities and their strengths, and I allow myself to be free.
I allow God into my life.
I allow myself to grow in His light.
I allow His plan for me to take priority in my life.
I allow His vision of who I really am to become my vision of myself.
Control has no place here.
I allow others the freedom to be who they are.
I allow others to have their emotional stuff/baggage and I don't have to fix it.
I allow them to be who they are without trying to change them.
I allow them to be, without my judgement.
I allow them to be happy, peaceful, successful, and to be safe and free.
I allow them to be them without my intervention.
I allow myself to be me.
I allow me to be beautiful, smart, happy, positive, fun, and healthy.
I will not downplay who I am for others to feel better.
I allow them their insecurities and their strengths, and I allow myself to be free.
I allow God into my life.
I allow myself to grow in His light.
I allow His plan for me to take priority in my life.
I allow His vision of who I really am to become my vision of myself.
Control has no place here.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Fear
Fear is an interesting emotion.
It stops action.
It creates other actions.
It causes people to overreact and have emotional outbursts.
It drives extreme behavior.
It leads people to seek reassurance from others they might not otherwise trust.
It often gets covered up by anger.
It is often misunderstood and mislabeled.
It gets held onto, as if that will make one safer.
It is usually suppressed.
It does not create positive emotions.
It has a very low frequency.
It is the opposite of faith.
What I have learned recently concerning fear:
*It is so conquerable!
*It does not have to drive us, but we can choose to let it go.
*Our thoughts are so very powerful, I create what I have in my life by my thoughts. Whenever I find negative thoughts creeping in, they get stopped and replaced with positive ones stating what is really true and what I really want.
*Fear has physical manifestations when suppressed for long periods of time. Holding onto that much stress has consequences.
*Faith is by far more powerful than fear.
Healing happens at all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Work also needs to be done at all levels, and any work done in one area affects the other three. My healing experience is all incompasing. The more I work and learn and let things go, the deeper the healing gets, at all levels.
What a miracle healing is.
It stops action.
It creates other actions.
It causes people to overreact and have emotional outbursts.
It drives extreme behavior.
It leads people to seek reassurance from others they might not otherwise trust.
It often gets covered up by anger.
It is often misunderstood and mislabeled.
It gets held onto, as if that will make one safer.
It is usually suppressed.
It does not create positive emotions.
It has a very low frequency.
It is the opposite of faith.
What I have learned recently concerning fear:
*It is so conquerable!
*It does not have to drive us, but we can choose to let it go.
*Our thoughts are so very powerful, I create what I have in my life by my thoughts. Whenever I find negative thoughts creeping in, they get stopped and replaced with positive ones stating what is really true and what I really want.
*Fear has physical manifestations when suppressed for long periods of time. Holding onto that much stress has consequences.
*Faith is by far more powerful than fear.
Healing happens at all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Work also needs to be done at all levels, and any work done in one area affects the other three. My healing experience is all incompasing. The more I work and learn and let things go, the deeper the healing gets, at all levels.
What a miracle healing is.
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