A CAREGIVER’S VIGOR

MY NEXT POSTS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO GIVE HARD TO THOSE WHO NEED THEM

OUR WELL BEING DICTATES, NOT ONLY OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, BUT ALSO, THAT OF THOSE WE SERVE

Love my angel boy

SEVENTEEN YEARS ITS BEEN that I’ve been awakened by sounds emitting from Zach’s room, either a seizure, a rapid barrage of his funny words, or the click-click…click of a light switch.  I know my day will include a good measure of care giving, self discipline and selflessness as my aching feet hit the wooly floor.  Sometimes, what I’d like, is to pamper myself the way I pamper my son.  It is easier now than it used to be, but there are times that are harder than others especially when my health comes up short in one area, be it a lethargic spirit, a shadow over the soul, or an imbalance in body.

My lovely Mama and I

I HAVE QUOTED 
MY MAMA in the past, her wisdom comes to remembrance when I need it most.  Pointy hammering forefinger and all, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you may not be able to care for those you love and wouldn’t that be a shame.”  So for the most part and as much as possible, I have heeded those wise words.  I have eaten well to the best of my knowledge at any given time, I have exercised nearly every day of my adult life and tended my mind and spirit to the same standard.  At the ripe old age of fifty-five, I have learned a thing, or two, yes, just a thing, or two.


WHAT WOMAN, OR MAN who is the primary care giver to a helpless child, or adult doesn’t need, and want a goodly amount of health across their triune being; spirit, soul and body to get the job done well?


I’VE LEARNED TO TAKE IT EASY ON MYSELF, to enjoy Him and those around me, but know, wrong attitudes, thoughts and endless food input can wreck havoc in a scope otherwise meant for peace and purity.  I want to avoid havoc if at all possible.  So, I try to act quickly when I see one of my “spots” out of whack.  My spirit spot is meant for His habitation (is He noted and sought after), my soul is meant for purity, to be mastered by the spirit spot (am I listening to my new heart and moving from there rather than the mind; and in that realm, am I taking every thought captive and into His thoughts?), my body is His place of habitation (am I caring for it as though I am acutely aware He resides in me?).  This is not a legalistic, regimented lifestyle;  disciplined, yes, but my discipline, not yours, or anyone else's.  It’s not about right and wrong, winning and loosing, it’s about transformation.  Am I moving along in my journey toward Him?  Do I love myself and others likewise?  Is life sweet?  Those are questions I ask myself often.


THIS FIRST POST IS DEDICATED TO THE BODY, though I believe the spirit spot in each of us deserves the place of first course, however, it being the first of the year, pacts being made and all that.  Keeping in mind, of course, that this is my husbands journey and mine, each one reading this will hear differently what he or she must do for themselves…so here goes

We love exercise…Fresh air…

…and Sunshine

A little extra weight…but happy 
Sumer 2012

Thin (er)…(still happy) into the winter
January 2013

OPTIMUM PHYSICAL HEALTH, may look quite different on me than it does on you.  Some folks just luck out and find health to be easy, others have maladies that just don’t seem fair, but then, as mama says, life isn’t supposed to be fair.  How I deal with that right there, it can be a key fashioned to turn me toward freedom, or lock me up in a lifelong mental prison of bitterness.    
I love feeling excited about life, happy to roll out of the sack in the morning and ready to dive into what the day holds.  Mind you, I don’t always feel excited, but I’d like to.  Here lately, it is much easier as my energy level rises to meet my life dream.  
I have found that the aforementioned is not wholly dependent upon a healthy body, however good health can carry a caregiver a long long ways down that hard trodden path.   Zach’s care is intense and sometimes, I’m just plain tired, or have felt I don’t have what it takes to give what I know is needed.  He, Zach, can’t help me.  He just knows he needs help and I am his helper, sick to death, or healthy as a horse, I am his caregiver. 
A few years ago, early in 2009 I had hip replacement surgery.  I was born with hip dysplasia and at 52 years of age, it was, well, plum wore out.  I was sleeping on tennis balls to cut the nerve pain and after several years of limping around like granny with a cane, I decided (with the gentle nudging of my loving husband) that it was time to fix that birth defect ASAP.  I wish I’d done it earlier.  Pain free, able to care for Zach and working out every day.  I had to take the bull by the horns so to speak and get’er’done.   

ONE WAY we looked into finding OUR OPTIMUM was through JUICE CLEANSING,   However, day two was straight from the abyss, but about day three we started to feel somewhat better and the weight was melting, yes, that miracle word…melting off.  Web, my husband of 32 years has been suffering from the effects of an autoimmune disorder, RA and skin rashes for the past ten years.  He has been on very expensive medication for the RA and antihistamines for his allergies every day.  He began to feel the positive results of our changed diet immediately (after day two, which, did I mention was from hell), he also wanted and needed to lose about thirty pounds.  Me, I thought I would support his decision and go along for a few days.  I like health; how hard can it be?  I am a fairly disciplined person, I workout almost daily and eat for my health….Ahem, reasonably well.  Piece-a-cake.  Right?  Right!

FOR ME, no RA, instead FEMALE AGING is in full force, hot flashes, weight gain and worst of all, the icy gray brain fog, arg, slog…slush!  Not terminal, I don’t think, but uncomfortable as heck.  I thought perhaps a cleanse would help with the symptoms of that and also some other light aches and pains that I have “grown” into.  I’ve tried every remedy known to man (except pharmaceuticals, which I deem a last resort) and had a little success; bio-identical hormones gave me about fifty percent relief with hot flashes in intensity and duration.  I found that with the weight gain, good old fashioned, eat less, move more was doing the trick (but SO hard!).  Then our insurance ran out last July, my ability to hang on to my bio-identical hormones went away.  Ahhhhh!  What to do?
The idea that Zach may not be as well tended as he could be sends me vaulting towards my personal optimum health (most days, because some days, I just feel like slogging it out and eating chocolate), like I said, in all three realms of my being, my spirit, my soul and my body.

A CLEANSE.  No body wants to hear about the dope next to them who found the latest cure for what ails them through their diet and a ridged exercise plan.  BOOOOO!  So I will try to be objective and unbiased…though it will be hard for me, so I will ask you to please bear with the gray-haired cheerleader.  We are twenty-five days in…details gone missing, let’s just say the past three weeks have been topsy-turvy, over headache hill and down energy mountain, over “what have I done?! cliff and on over to to the plateau; gee, I feel great!…(when can I have a burger?!).
I had heard that a cleanse could reset your health quickly without the side affects of pharmaceuticals.  I had also heard that it could kick autoimmune disorders in the derriere.  So here’s the skinny on that (google, Knife over Fork, The Juice Lady and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead); keep in mind we did a 16 day juice cleanse (did I mention that I won’t be doing that again any time soon…) and are only a total of twenty-five days into the whole of eating nothing but raw (I started in on chicken stock and protein about 4 days ago), but some of the rewards of all that climbing and plummeting are in…

SURPRISE NUMBER ONE, In the morning, or rather the middle of the night when I’d get up to care for Zach I’d find myself hobbling from the pain in the souls of my feet; I’d heard that it was just something old folks put up with (nerve damage, or something like that), so I did, until about day five of the cleanse when I noted that the pain had almost completely disappeared.
NUMBER TWO, we heard through a friend that a local chiropractor was treating his RA with diet and had had great success (no pharmaceuticals), this news spurred us on even further.  Web says his joint pain is nearly gone just from changing his diet and his rash has diminished.
NUMBER THREE, how does Zach feel when we are not ourselves because of pain, or poor health?  Would mom and dad’s regained verve affect Zach?  I would think, Zach being highly tuned to the spiritual world, would sense our well being with greater receptivity than we do and I know how I respond when someone with good health, glowing skin and sparkly eyes comes into my space.  I not only see it, I feel it!  We are pretty sure Zach is feeling our good health.  He is smiley and happy.
NUMBER FOUR, the energy level I began to feel around day twelve was awesome.  I felt and continue to feel like a kid!  It’s a good high.  One I’d like to stay on.  I had ups and downs till day twelve.  In fact…I was ready to bail.  So glad I stayed on the juice wagon.  Web says he can’t ever remember feeling this good.
NUMBER FIVE, seven pounds for me; twenty lbs for Web, in twenty-five days.  Not the goal of the cleanse, but hey, a nice side affect don’t ya think?
NUMBER SIX, Sloshy, slushy gray brain fog…gone!  Hot flashes, better some days and others, they are the same.  I am still holding out hope that as I continue, they will be alleviated, obliterated, blown out of my body completely.
AND STILL COUNTING…

Day one, December 28th…not well hubby

Day twenty-eight, January 25th…Amazing results!

   

28 days in….I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED on our successes and perhaps failures.  We are, after all, human, but I am a believer!  Yesterday we had an exciting addition of a little smoked salmon sprinkled on our raw salad.  We nearly cried it tasted so good!  Protein is underrated.  We are in this for the long haul; slowly adding goodness to our food regime and routing out those things that cause a bad reaction.  It’s a food adventure!  
Organic raw food, fresh air and exercise to heal, or pharmaceuticals?  I don’t know about you, but we choose the former.

Fun Raw Recipe:

Rich and Creamy Mock Pate

Ingredients:

2 stalks celery (finely diced)

2 cups raw walnut pieces

1 large red bell pepper (cut into fine diced-sized pieces)

1 large scallion or 1/2 a leek (finely diced)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt

My addition 1/8 tsp liquid smoke.  And I don't finely dice my veggies, just slice them up so they fit into the VitaMix.  The VM does all the work for ya.

Put all ingredients into a blender, and puree until mixture is creamy smooth in texture.

Scoop onto cucumber slices, carrot discs, or an array of fresh sliced veggies of your choice.