Sunday, July 14, 2013
Becoming a Doctor
Ok. So I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I am attending ASU as a Spanish Linguistics major and I am taking my pre med classes. I plan to graduate in May 2018 and then to attend the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine. I'm super excited. I will do my residency in the US and then work in a low income community so the government will pay off my student loans. I plan to specialize in internal medicine and use my background in customer service to be a first class doctor that helps her patients to cure themselves of all the nasty diseases that are becoming an epidemic in our society. It is going to be tough because I am working full time and because I don't know how I will pay for it. I no longer qualify for student loans or grants because I reached my lifetime maximum by taking 20 years to get my associate degree and getting PLUS loans to help my kids go to Southern Virginia University. Both of those things were important so I don't regret them it just makes it more difficult now. I won't let that get me down.
Day One
We had our first shake Friday night before dinner. I used coconut milk, fresh strawberries and oat bran. It was way too thick.
Saturday was our first real day on the plan. I still had a migraine and I was freaked out about grocery shopping so I called my mom and asked her to go with me. Thankfully she agreed. I told her I'd be over after I ate and got ready. She needed to do the same.
For our breakfast shake I just used milk. The good news is that the shake doesn't taste bad. I was worried about that. I have had lots of shake powders in the past that taste so bad there is no way I can stay on the plan. Then I had my 2 slices of toast. I don't like to cook so I decided to skip the whatever I want part.
Mom & I went to Walgreens because I needed to get vitamins. I thought the supplement replaced the vitamins but it doesn't. The doctor recommended taking a multivitamin and CoQ10. My mom is a distributor for Awareness Life products. She said I should just take their multivitamin. I agreed. Her site is http://www.excellenthealthpast100.awarenesslife.com/ They are about the same price as the Alive vitamins. Then we went to Whole Foods. I was so glad my mom was with me. I was also so glad that I had tried Forks over Knives and the whole vegan thing first. Otherwise this would just have been too much. I walked in and looked at the vegetables and panicked. I said lets just go where my mind is going. We are going to do a lot of walking. I saw the cereal aisle. My husband loves the Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multigrain Flakes. It's good. What I love about it is that it doesn't settle in shipping. When you open the box it is filled to the top with cereal so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth. Then we went to look for Chia seeds. They are so expensive! The best deal I found there was 8 ounces for $7. That is nuts! I'm going to have to shop around. 1 by 1 we found almost everything on my list. There are some things I just can't buy organic. Like refried beans. $3 at whole foods vs. 10 for $10 for Rosarita brand at Fry's. I won't buy my produce at a regular grocery store though. There is just too big a difference in quality. We were almost done and I said that I needed mint. My mom asked, "What kind?" I looked at her and said, "That is just mean! There should only be one kind of mint, mom!" She laughed at me and went to look for it. She told me, "Fortunately Whole Foods agrees with you and they only have one kind of fresh mint." That is what I bought.
Later that day I finished my shopping at Fry's, Wal-Mart, Food City and Carniceria Sonora.
For lunch we had a shake with Simply orange/tangerine juice, fiber powder, frozen strawberries, banana and chia. 2 slices of whole grain bread. For our salad I used the one recipe I remembered from the class. I took a slice of tomato and put a slice of goat cheese on top and some mint leaves on top of that and some sea salt. Tasty. 2 of those was enough for me.
Then we took my son, Alex, to the movies for his birthday. We saw Grown Ups 2. It was funny.
For dinner we had the same shake as lunch, 1 slice of bread, a small salad made of spinach, mushroom and artichoke hearts topped with a dressing made of olive oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. A cup of sweet potato soup. Then we had 2 tamales with crema and Tostitos salsa. I could only eat one. I gave the other one to Alex. Then we had a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ok. I was stuffed but it was tasty.
My migraine just kept getting worse so around 10:30 pm I cheated. I had a bowl of 2 scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a slice of cinnamon bread. I felt guilty but satisfied.
Saturday was our first real day on the plan. I still had a migraine and I was freaked out about grocery shopping so I called my mom and asked her to go with me. Thankfully she agreed. I told her I'd be over after I ate and got ready. She needed to do the same.
For our breakfast shake I just used milk. The good news is that the shake doesn't taste bad. I was worried about that. I have had lots of shake powders in the past that taste so bad there is no way I can stay on the plan. Then I had my 2 slices of toast. I don't like to cook so I decided to skip the whatever I want part.
Mom & I went to Walgreens because I needed to get vitamins. I thought the supplement replaced the vitamins but it doesn't. The doctor recommended taking a multivitamin and CoQ10. My mom is a distributor for Awareness Life products. She said I should just take their multivitamin. I agreed. Her site is http://www.excellenthealthpast100.awarenesslife.com/ They are about the same price as the Alive vitamins. Then we went to Whole Foods. I was so glad my mom was with me. I was also so glad that I had tried Forks over Knives and the whole vegan thing first. Otherwise this would just have been too much. I walked in and looked at the vegetables and panicked. I said lets just go where my mind is going. We are going to do a lot of walking. I saw the cereal aisle. My husband loves the Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multigrain Flakes. It's good. What I love about it is that it doesn't settle in shipping. When you open the box it is filled to the top with cereal so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth. Then we went to look for Chia seeds. They are so expensive! The best deal I found there was 8 ounces for $7. That is nuts! I'm going to have to shop around. 1 by 1 we found almost everything on my list. There are some things I just can't buy organic. Like refried beans. $3 at whole foods vs. 10 for $10 for Rosarita brand at Fry's. I won't buy my produce at a regular grocery store though. There is just too big a difference in quality. We were almost done and I said that I needed mint. My mom asked, "What kind?" I looked at her and said, "That is just mean! There should only be one kind of mint, mom!" She laughed at me and went to look for it. She told me, "Fortunately Whole Foods agrees with you and they only have one kind of fresh mint." That is what I bought.
Later that day I finished my shopping at Fry's, Wal-Mart, Food City and Carniceria Sonora.
For lunch we had a shake with Simply orange/tangerine juice, fiber powder, frozen strawberries, banana and chia. 2 slices of whole grain bread. For our salad I used the one recipe I remembered from the class. I took a slice of tomato and put a slice of goat cheese on top and some mint leaves on top of that and some sea salt. Tasty. 2 of those was enough for me.
Then we took my son, Alex, to the movies for his birthday. We saw Grown Ups 2. It was funny.
For dinner we had the same shake as lunch, 1 slice of bread, a small salad made of spinach, mushroom and artichoke hearts topped with a dressing made of olive oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. A cup of sweet potato soup. Then we had 2 tamales with crema and Tostitos salsa. I could only eat one. I gave the other one to Alex. Then we had a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ok. I was stuffed but it was tasty.
My migraine just kept getting worse so around 10:30 pm I cheated. I had a bowl of 2 scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream and a slice of cinnamon bread. I felt guilty but satisfied.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Let's talk about Friday, July 12, 2013.
This is what the plan was.....
Wake up at 5am. Get ready and go to the doctor with my husband for a class to learn how to cure diabetes. Arrive at 7:30am. The class was to start at 8am and last for 5 hours. We would then go to lunch and my husband would take me to work. I knew I would probably be late but I had planned for that. I would work until 10pm. I had a couple of meetings scheduled at work that day as well. I would go home, relax and go to sleep.
What really happened....
I hardly slept. When my alarm went off at 5 I felt like I had just gotten into a deep sleep. It took me 45 minutes to peel myself out of the bed. It was my son's 22nd birthday. He is the only one left at home and not married. So, after I got ready my husband and I went to his door and sang Las Mañanitas to him. We did leave on time. We got there and there were so many people. It was a little overwhelming. I weighed in at 200 pounds! We had to sign non disclosure statements. I thought..."What about my blog?!" 5 hours is a long time to sit in a chair and listen. I was worried about understanding everything because it was in Spanish but that wasn't the problem. It was that there was so much information. He talked about why diabetes is so bad. Something that surprised me was that Mexico has passed the US as the fattest country in this hemisphere. Most people in Mexico die of diabetes because they don't get medical care. That was upsetting.
Then he talked about all of the good foods we should eat. Most of them I had never heard of! And that wasn't because it was in Spanish. There were pictures too. That's where I started to freak out. How am I supposed to eat food I've never heard of and who is supposed to teach me how to prepare it?
Then he really got into the plan. He says it's not a diet and that we can eat whatever we want but there is a special way to do it.
First I have to check my blood when I first wake up.
Breakfast -
I have a shake with a scoop of fiber powder and a tablespoon of chia seeds. I like to make mine with tangerine juice, 2 frozen strawberries and 1/2 banana.
10 minutes later I have 1-2 slices of whole grain bread or cereal.
I take my morning medications and my supplement with my bread.
Then I can eat whatever I want.
30 minutes after my last bite I walk for 10 minutes.
2 hours after my last bite I check my blood again.
Lunch -
I have the same shake.
10 minutes later I have 1-2 slices of whole grain bread and my supplement.
I also have a small salad. It can be fruits or vegetables, raw or cooked.
Then I can eat whatever I want.
30 minutes after my last bite I walk for 10 minutes.
2 hours after my last bite I check my blood again.
Dinner -
I have the same shake.
10 minutes later I have 1-2 slices of whole grain bread, my supplement and my evening medications.
I also have a small salad. It can be fruits or vegetables, raw or cooked.
I also have a cup of vegetable soup with no meat or noodles.
Then I can eat whatever I want.
30 minutes after my last bite I walk for 10 minutes.
2 hours after my last bite I check my blood again.
No more food after that and no food between meals. It's the late night snacking that gets me. My husband is doing it too because he found out on Wednesday that he is prediabetic. He doesn't want to be like me so he is following the plan. The difference is that he doesn't have to take the supplement or all the medication. I can only eat until I'm full not stuffed.
So, after the class we met with him individually. That's when I freaked out. I wanted to know who was going to teach me how to cook? He told me to go to the local health food store. I didn't think that was very helpful. He told me to focus on the shake and come back in a week to talk some more. I didn't like that answer either. I was just grumpy. I was hungry, tired and overwhelmed. My husband and I left. We got gas for the car and went to lunch. We were so hungry we went to the closest restaurant to the gas station and I had a big cheeseburger and fries and fresh squeezed lemonade. We went to the bread store the doctor recommended and bought some bread. We went to an oriental market the doctor recommended and walked for 10 minutes and left. That store was so unfamiliar we didn't know what to do there. By then I had a full blown migraine. I'm no longer allowed to use caffeine so I had no idea what to do. We stopped for stamps because we needed to mail the car payment. My husband was driving me to work and I decided I just couldn't do it. I came home and went to bed.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Week 2
I went back to my new doctor on July 3, 2013. This time my husband came with me. We went over my lab results and the doctor reassured me that he sees people a lot worse than me all the time. I guess he noticed how freaked out I was. My condition is still serious but he says he can fix it. The first week was not too bad. It was actually easier than I thought. The hardest part was that cpap machine. I still hate it. I obeyed all the rules and survived. The fun part is that my mom and my husband have started following the rules with me. I love that they are so supportive. I got new rules for week 2. A lot of it was changing my medication. He took away the glipizide because it is making my pancreas work too hard. He started me on insulin injections. He said that is to give my pancreas a vacation. He added a drug called Actos. He said there is a risk of bladder cancer with it but that my condition has a risk of 9 different cancers so he sees it as the lesser of 2 evils. And he added a supplement .
It seems like a multivitamin but I have noticed that I get full faster. Then he told me to add some things to my diet.
1. sweet potato every day.
2. 2 tangerines a day.
3. either goat cheese, sardines or coconut milk every day.
The sweet potato is easy. I love sweet potato fries. He told me to bake them though.
Tangerines are a little harder. They are not in season so I'm using clementines. I also found a juice that is 57% tangerine juice. Have I mentioned how excited I am to have sugary drinks again? I had cut out all sugary drinks back in 2008. Now I'm drinking juice and soda. I love it.
Goat cheese is pretty easy. I put it on some scrambled eggs and it was good. Sardines? Yuck! My husband mixed a can of sardines with a can of tuna, some miracle whip, lettuce and tomato and made a sandwich. That was tolerable. I really don't like sardines. I haven't tried the coconut milk yet.
Here is the best part. On Friday July 5, 2013 I felt really good. I didn't use the disabled parking at work. I parked way over in the parking garage and I felt good all day! On Saturday July 6th I kept busy all day instead of just vegging out in front of the tv. I had friends over for dinner and we played a game and I still felt good!
What's next? I go to a class with this doctor on July 12, 2013 to learn how to cure diabetes. I have to be there at 7:30am ugh! They told me I was going to have to wait until the 26th because the one on the 12th is in Spanish. I told them.."Yo hablo español." So, I get to go on the 12th. Woot!
It seems like a multivitamin but I have noticed that I get full faster. Then he told me to add some things to my diet.
1. sweet potato every day.
2. 2 tangerines a day.
3. either goat cheese, sardines or coconut milk every day.
The sweet potato is easy. I love sweet potato fries. He told me to bake them though.
Tangerines are a little harder. They are not in season so I'm using clementines. I also found a juice that is 57% tangerine juice. Have I mentioned how excited I am to have sugary drinks again? I had cut out all sugary drinks back in 2008. Now I'm drinking juice and soda. I love it.
Goat cheese is pretty easy. I put it on some scrambled eggs and it was good. Sardines? Yuck! My husband mixed a can of sardines with a can of tuna, some miracle whip, lettuce and tomato and made a sandwich. That was tolerable. I really don't like sardines. I haven't tried the coconut milk yet.
Here is the best part. On Friday July 5, 2013 I felt really good. I didn't use the disabled parking at work. I parked way over in the parking garage and I felt good all day! On Saturday July 6th I kept busy all day instead of just vegging out in front of the tv. I had friends over for dinner and we played a game and I still felt good!
What's next? I go to a class with this doctor on July 12, 2013 to learn how to cure diabetes. I have to be there at 7:30am ugh! They told me I was going to have to wait until the 26th because the one on the 12th is in Spanish. I told them.."Yo hablo español." So, I get to go on the 12th. Woot!
New Doctor
So, this is the crazy new doctor. I thought about it for a while and then called to make an appointment to get information. They wanted me to call my insurance first. It turns out he is a preferred provider on my insurance and the state insurance programs all take him too. I thought that was a good recommendation. So I went and decided I will do what ever he says because I want to be well.
My first visit was on June 26th. He told me all about my disease and how my blood sugar is causing all of my other problems. The most shocking part was that he said that I had diabetes 10-15 years before I was diagnosed. He also said that gall bladder problems are one of the first signs of diabetes. That was interesting because I had emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder in 1999 which is 9 years before I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2008. He said that all that sugar causes emotional issues and mood swings and that my pancreas is in bad shape. Wow! So he gave me a plan:
Part 1:
My mom thinks I got this part wrong but it's my favorite part so I'm not gonna ask him about it. She went with me. He said I can eat anything I want and as much as I want. Woot! The catch is I can only eat 3 meals a day. Not 2, not 4 and no snacks! That's harder than it sounds.
Then when he found out I have sleep apnea he was pretty upset that I don't use my cpap machine because that can make all of my problems worse so he told me I had to use my cpap machine.
I have really bad migraines. I treat them with excedrine, diet coke and ben and jerry's chocolate fudge brownie. He said no caffeine. Waaa! At least I get to keep ben and jerry as long as it is part of a meal. Ice cream for dinner?
Lastly I have to check my blood sugar 4 times per day. My poor little fingers!
Then he sent me for a ton of lab tests.
Here it is in a shorter list....
1. 3 meals a day, no snacks
2. Wear your cpap machine every night
3. No caffeine
4. Check your blood sugar 4 times per day.
My first visit was on June 26th. He told me all about my disease and how my blood sugar is causing all of my other problems. The most shocking part was that he said that I had diabetes 10-15 years before I was diagnosed. He also said that gall bladder problems are one of the first signs of diabetes. That was interesting because I had emergency surgery to remove my gall bladder in 1999 which is 9 years before I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2008. He said that all that sugar causes emotional issues and mood swings and that my pancreas is in bad shape. Wow! So he gave me a plan:
Part 1:
My mom thinks I got this part wrong but it's my favorite part so I'm not gonna ask him about it. She went with me. He said I can eat anything I want and as much as I want. Woot! The catch is I can only eat 3 meals a day. Not 2, not 4 and no snacks! That's harder than it sounds.
Then when he found out I have sleep apnea he was pretty upset that I don't use my cpap machine because that can make all of my problems worse so he told me I had to use my cpap machine.
I have really bad migraines. I treat them with excedrine, diet coke and ben and jerry's chocolate fudge brownie. He said no caffeine. Waaa! At least I get to keep ben and jerry as long as it is part of a meal. Ice cream for dinner?
Lastly I have to check my blood sugar 4 times per day. My poor little fingers!
Then he sent me for a ton of lab tests.
Here it is in a shorter list....
1. 3 meals a day, no snacks
2. Wear your cpap machine every night
3. No caffeine
4. Check your blood sugar 4 times per day.
New Plan
So, Weight Watchers totally didn't work for me. I really tried for about 2 years and that wasn't the first time either. I enjoyed the meetings and spending time with my mom but the weight hung around. The vegan thing worked but I couldn't keep it up. Sorry but I'm an omnivore. I love animals but I eat them too. I tried a juice fast. I couldn't do that either. I have to eat. It sounds like I have no will power. But I swear I am a dedicated person and I want to do this. I have to go to the doctor every 3 months because of my diabetes and liver problems. The liver enzymes are getting worse. Every time they are worse. That scared me. I asked my doctor at the Mayo Clinic, "What are we gonna do?" She said we'll look at it in 3 months and if it's worse again we'll do a biopsy. 3 months! I can't wait 3 more months for my liver to kill me! We had done an ultrasound 3 months before and confirmed I have fatty liver disease. That is something that Alcoholics usually get before they have cirrhosis. I don't drink. I got a referral to a gastrointestinal doctor to see what he thinks. But that appointment was too far out. One day the nurse called me about lab results and said...Your liver enzymes are up so avoid fat and cholesterol. The next day she called me and said...Your A1C is high so avoid sugar and carbohydrates. (A1C is a test for diabetes. It shows your average sugar over the past 3 months or something like that.) After that call I thought, Well, I guess that leaves fruits and vegetables right? So for a minute that's all I ate but then my youngest child got married. I don't know about you but I cannot stick to a diet when my baby is getting married. I got another call from that nurse saying....Because your sugar is so high the doctor wants to add a new drug called glipizide. At first I said no but then I gave in. One more drug. While waiting for the date to arrive for my appointment with the gastrointestinal doctor to talk to me about my liver I got a new position at work. I work in a call center and finally got to move to the Spanish team. That was a huge achievement for me. I have been trying to learn Spanish for about 25 years and it is finally good enough to use at work. On that team I learned about a doctor that claims he can cure diabetes. I said..."What?!" Sounds too good to be true but at this point I am willing to do anything. I am sick all the time. I have handicapped plates on my car because I can't handle walking across the parking lots at work and school. I don't work out anymore because I'm afraid I won't have enough energy to go to work. It sucks!
Looking Back
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