Dear friends, I could really use thoughts and prayers if you have a chance.
To be honest it’s been a really hard season for me since the surgery. The surgery itself went fine and was successful, and every morning when I wake up fully rested and able to smell, I thank the Lord. To smell your coffee as you drink it is such a gift that I hope I never take for granted again! I’m sure I will, though.
The hard part is the weaning off of prednisone, the dangerous steroid that I’ve been on for over two years. It becomes more dangerous to your health the longer you are on it, you gain crazy amounts of weight quickly, and it can result in destroying your organs and drastically shortening your life! But for the past two years, it was my only option to breathe. There’s a lot of boring details involved there, but thanks to the surgery, I’m finally able to wean off of it. I know it sounds really vain, but I can’t wait to LOOK like myself again. I can’t wait to not have a chubby face again! However I was really ill-prepared for the side effects that go with weaning off of it. Like, sleep. Being tired. Not just being tired… being physically unable to stay awake. I’ve had to sleep for about 12-14 hours a DAY. That’s about twice what I normally sleep. My brain feels so foggy and unmotivated and as a result of both of those, I’ve been deeply depressed the past week or so. I even feel really ashamed writing this, but I know it’s not who I am, but it’s just a result of trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle. I hope it’s all over soon. For anyone interested, I’d been on between 10 and 20 mg of prednisone per day for the past 2 1/2 years. Currently I am down to 2.5 mg NO PROBLEM – no asthma attacks, no sinus flareups, nothing. In and of itself that is a miracle. I only have a few days left and then I go off for good – I am really nervous about that, and just praying that my asthma remains under control without it!
So when my Mom was visiting, she left me with this book called the Blood Sugar Solution. In a nutshell, it calls you out on making lifestyle changes based on what you are eating. It was a really great and convincing read. So I’ve decided to do the eating plan recommended in this book, and I feel so encouraged that my beautiful friend Julia is doing a similar eating plan right now! I just know that when I eat sugars, wheats and starches I feel terrible. Um, even though donuts are the best things ever. So basically this book recommends no sugars, starches, grains, dairy, or processed foods for at least 6 weeks. OH, AND NO CAFFEINE. At first I was super stubborn in my head and though I was just going to have coffee anyway, but seriously I want to commit my body to being healthy, to healing, and to reversing a lot of these symptoms that I still have, and I think I might just have to break up with coffee for awhile. I did a similar eating-fast (not gonna call it a diet, because it’s not for losing weight, it’s for health) for the 3 months before our wedding because suddenly I knew I was allergic to something I was eating. Anyway after those 3 months, I had never felt better in my life. And then the honeymoon came, and we ate like it was the end of the world. 
I’m really hoping to stick to this. I’m hoping I can muster up the determination to give up foods / drinks that I love in favor of a healthier and consequently happier life.
If you read all of this, you are a champion and I love you. Or.. you are my Mom. And I love you, too Mom.
