Good Medicine: Hope

Day 19 on LEAP protocol. Right now I am still in phase one, a special diet based on a blood test that identified the foods to which I have the fewest antibodies.

Yesterday, Day 18 - Ready for a trip to  my new functional medicine doctor
See my new do! How do you like the bangs? Unfortunately I can't wear any makeup. Oh well.

Yesterday was a really wonderful day. Hope has been building in me for a few days, and this is so healthy for my mind and body, and even my immune system, I am told. Here are a few things I am grateful for from these past few days.

• I have stopped losing weight! I am up two pounds in two days, from 113 to 115. Yay!!
  
• I am able to drive again. My first outing was on day 10 of the LEAP diet, just a couple of miles to my favorite grocery store in the world, Natural Grocers. Everything there is organic, non-GMO, no artificial anything. And it is the size of Aldi, the little German discount store, about like a large convenience store. Perfect when you have tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and want to burn fewer calories. But my tachycardia has resolved on the LEAP diet, except when I get adverse reactions to things like tea tree oil.
  
  On Thursday I drove 20 minutes in the evening to a Celebrate Recovery meeting, where I received a week's worth of hugs... and hope for recovery. One woman there has a serious illness, and she told me about a support group at that church for people with chronic illnesses. They only meet once a month, and it is this coming Sunday (tomorrow). I'm going for sure. Guess what the title is? Okay, I'll tell you... Chronic Hope! It is for patients and their caregivers. I don't have a caregiver.
  
  Yesterday, I drove 30 minutes to my new family doctor, a functional medicine doctor who will coordinate with my thyroid functional medicine doc and my LEAP dietitian. More on that momentarily.
  
  The reason I could not drive before was chronic sleep deprivation, for about 6 weeks. I slept very little until I got on the LEAP diet and back into my own home. More on sleep in another entry. 

  

  First time I've needed to buy gas since July 7. It felt good.

• I made something bread-ish at last! Two days ago I made oat tortillas, so simple and good. I topped them with American cheese, the only type my immune system doesn't have antibodies against; there is actually healthy, tasty American cheese (who knew?). More on that later, too. Then yesterday I made oat muffins and topped them with grape jam that I made in my breadmaker and sunflower seed butter that I made in my Blendtec blender (not in that order).
  
  I used oats that I sprouted and dehydrated myself. Sprouting removes the protective outer covering of seeds (grains and nuts) and makes them easy to digest, so that you can get all the nutrition out of them.
  
  At my roommate's suggestion, I made bedtime snacks to keep next to my bed so I don't have to get out of bed when I wake up in the night to feed myself. It works! The little oat snacks aren't perishable. When I wake up I drink water from my stainless steel cup, go to the bathroom if I must, and eat my snack. Then I use the Abide app to play scripture meditations to put myself back to sleep. Magic.
  
• I absolutely love my new functional medicine doctor, Dr. Sattar in South Fort Worth. She has successfully treated other patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis as well as other autoimmune disorders. She is very intrigued by my case. I told her about my known setting events and several horrible drug interactions that exacerbated my illness; I will share that another day. She said my case is so severe that she believes there could be a pathogen behind some of the physical and mental symptoms. "We will get to the bottom of this," she said. "You are going to be your healthy self again." With that, she gave me a hug that brought tears to my eyes. No other doctor has ever hugged me before. She affirmed the self care and mindfulness actions that I do on the days when my mind is working well enough: petting my cat and focusing on her fur and her eyes; praying; meditating on scripture; walking in the park when it isn't too hot.
  

  

  Arwen, also known as Sweet Cat

  
  She said that managing stress is my number one priority for healing the immune system. I have to stay positive and take care of my mind and spirit. She recommended a book that helps you focus on removing negativity from your life. She warned that the author is a mysticist and not a Christian, but she believes it will fit with my Christian beliefs quite well. I previewed it online after my walk today, and I agree. Although this author calls God the Universe, I have no problem with that. In my wakeful period last night I listened to Que Seas Mi Universo, a beautiful Spanish song about letting God be our entire universe. 

• Last night I was awakened at 1:30 a.m. by a fragrance sensitivity. I panicked when I smelled something sweet, and got out of bed to investigate. My roommate had just returned from work and was showering with a scented soap on the other side of the house, and both of our doors were closed. Absolutely bizarre, and very unnerving for me. But after a hug and a prayer together, and after meditating aloud on some new scripture stickies that the Lord gave me through the Nigerian Uber driver that I mentioned in a previous entry, I was able to get back in bed and go to sleep. I fell asleep listening to scripture meditations and slept beautifully. I didn't get as many hours as usual, but neither was I up all night like I was with previous immune reactions. I am getting better! The more I sleep, the better my immune system and mental health will be.
  

Because of all of these things, my Beloved has given me hope that I will get my life back. I believe it will be even better than it was before. I am reminded of a verse that my precious Aunt Sue gave me during my divorce 7 years ago:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13).

That verse was a billboard for me when I was shopping for a house.