Saturdays - Delicious Encounters

The food items I depended on this week to bring my fat intake up to the mandatory 20+grams per intake of Telaprevir were the following:

Chakra Bar 

This all natural bar comes in 3 flavors… original (20 grams/fat), ginger (20 grams/fat), and chocolate (30 grams/fat).  My favorite is the ginger bar.  I find it soothing on an upset stomach, full of flavor and it leaves a fresh after taste. If you are interested in trying this product, please refer to the right side menu.

MCT Oil

This oil has been a gift when I only want to have a smoothy before the Telaprevir instead of something heavy. It’s healthy, light, and tasteless.  It also blends well in anything cold without breaking down its value.  It’s especially good in your favorite salad dressing recipe.

Omega 3 Oil (Lemon Flavored)

Another oil that actually compliments the flavor of a salad or smoothy while benefiting my overall health.

‘O’ - Mega Good Breakfast Smoothy

This smoothy tastes so fresh.  It’s perfect for the morning meds!  It has 20+ grams of fat depending on how much oil you add.

Juice of 1 lemon

1 large handful of baby spinach leaves

1 cup pomegranate juice

1 banana (frozen chunks)

4 large ice cubes

½ a pear

½ an apple

1/3 of a yellow sweet pepper

1 ½ cups of water

Blend until smooth.  Take ½ of the Smoothy out of the blender and place in a mason jar and seal for the evening Telaprevir dose.

With the remaining ½ left in the blender, add 1 1/2 tsp. omega oil (6 grams/fat) and 1 tbsp. MCT oil (15 grams/fat) and blend.

Delicious!

I will be dedicating the weekend to one entry on Food Items and Recipes.  I trust this will be a helpful tool to those of you who may be looking for healthy alternatives.

I wish you a wonderful weekend!

Deborah

Fridays - What Brings You Happiness?

I’m a day late with this entry and I apologize to those of you who check this blog each day.  Thank you for your patience and understanding! It was a day of nursing some symptoms and not putting my energy elsewhere. So…here goes!

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Lately, I find myself waking up in the morning feeling less than my usual self.  Intellectually, I know it is due to the effects of the drugs pumping through my system but my body doesn’t readily accept this.  It just wants to crawl back under the warm cozy down comforter and sleep for another hour. 

Before my body has time to give into this craving the second round of the alarm goes off reminding me there is no ‘time off’ on this schedule and I’d better get my butt out of bed for the morning doses of meds.  This is my reality for the next 45 weeks and if I am going to get through it I need to work on a few things.

Right now I am finding I’m feeling stubborn and resentful towards the fat intake, the lack of sleep and the inflexibility of the schedule.  Most of all my mini meltdowns are the outcome of my frustration over the fact that I just don’t have the energy to maintain the lifestyle I have been accustomed to. 

So, if I can’t push the current…then I need to go with the flow and find a way to create my own happiness while doing so.

How am I going to do this?  I’m going to start by reminding myself each day that my happiness and goals do not need to go on hold just because I’m on this treatment.  I’m going to work on something that is meaningful to me, something creative that will bring me happiness over the next year.

My sons have asked that I put another album together.  I have enough material that I’ve written over the past decade.  This will be the ideal project to work on and a healthy catalyst to get me motivated in the mornings.
 

For me, the album is a good choice.  I can take my time, I don’t have to stick to a ridged schedule and in the end I’ll have something I can continue to build on.

So I ask you this…”What are you directing your energy towards?  What are you creating in your life that brings you happiness?” 

~ Happiness is ideal; it is the work of the imagination. ~ Marquis de Sade

Deborah

Thursdays - Let's Get Moving

Cross culturally around the world it is not uncommon to hear of people living healthy productive lives well into their 90s and in some cases beyond 100 yrs. of age.  What do most of these individuals have in common? 

The elderly I have sat with identified eating well, getting a good night sleep, drinking clean water, and having a sense of humour as the stepping stones to living a healthy life. Incorporating some form of physical practice into their day was another fundamental factor in maintaining this balance.

In todays world of technology we have become sedentary beings out of sync with the natural world and our roles within it. Physical movement is almost non existent for some. 

I don’t know about you but when I am running a 102-degree fever, my body feels like I have been hit by a Mack truck and I am taking up residence on the bathroom floor hugging the ‘big white’ - I certainly do not want to go out for a brisk 30 minute walk or get my 20 minutes of yoga in. 

During this treatment there are days when I can barely make it down the block to put my garbage in the nim bins but if that is all I can manage that day, then that's okay.  I’m moving and getting fresh air. I’ll work on training for the 5 k run in a year when the treatment is complete.

So, beginning next week I will be dedicating Thursdays blog entries to content focusing on alternative ways to get our bodies moving.

Until next time,

Deborah

Wednesdays - Meditation and Stress Release

One of the things I have recognized through this process - no matter what degree of discomfort, nausea and/or pain I am experiencing, my body is relentlessly dedicated to drawing my attention into the present moment.  In actuality, this is a gift because once I arrive at this point I can observe … breathe … and witness the rhythms of my body processing and reacting to this treatment.  Within time my breath relaxes as do my muscles; my blood pressure slows down to a more reasonable rate; my heart beats quieter; and soon the space within settles to some degree.

For me, meditation is more than managing certain levels of pain without drugs or releasing stress instead of tensing up and holding onto to it. It is a resourceful practice that helps me learn about my own biorhythms and how I can work with them. It is a way of life.

There are many ways to meditate.  There are even more instructors out there eager to teach what has been passed on to them. Take your time in choosing an instructor that resonates with your principals, values and beliefs. 

Over the course of the next few months I am dedicating Wednesday’s postings to information on meditation and stress release. 

I encourage you to visit the right side menu bar and click on the Mindfulness Meditation YouTube videos with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn - founding Executive Director of The Stress Reduction Clinic and The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

May your day have moments of peace.

Deborah

Tuesdays - What Entertains You?

So lets talk about humour for a bit. What tickles your funny bone? What makes you laugh so deeply that your belly shakes and tears stream down your face?

Without humour in my day I feel something passed me by or I was not fully present for the day. Humour is equally as important to my healing as clean water and healthy food.  (The Healing Power of Humour).

I thought I would share some funny moments caught on tape. When you need a little something extra from your medicine cabinet, I hope you try watching one or both of these film clips. May they bring laughter to your day?

King of Queens - Pole Dance

The Frantics

Week 3: Mondays - Recharging Your Internal Batteries

Over time I have realized how deeply I am imprinted by the words of my past.

"Don't be so lazy. Get up and do something productive."

"The work isn't going to get done by itself."

"You can't be that sick.  If you're laughing you're well enough to work."

A generation of well meaning individuals who worked hard even on days they were sick believed this was the respectful and responsible way to live a productive life. 

I understand this kind of inner dialog can create guilt and stress in my day, causing me to have set backs in my healing process.

I have learned the importance of sleep even if it means taking naps during the day.  I give myself permission to relax on the days I am low on energy, running a fever and experiencing pain.  I will read a book, listen to some music, meditate, or sit outside in the shade and take in some fresh air. 

What ever I choose, I make it something that recharges my internal batteries ... something that makes me happy.

Dalai Lama  -  5 Mar 2012  -  Public

In today’s materialistic world there is a risk of people becoming slaves to money, as though they were simply cogs in a huge money-making machine. This does nothing for human dignity, freedom, and genuine well-being. Wealth should serve humanity, and not the other way around.

In the Spirit of Wellness,

Deborah 

Week 2: Eat the Fat!

My biggest challenge these past 2 weeks has been coming up with a healthy selection of foods that contain 20 grams of fat and that I can manage to ingest when all I want to do is not eat.  My incentive - if I don’t eat the recommended grams of fat the medication is not absorbed by my body. I don’t want to go through all of this only to fail because I didn’t eat enough fat. 

I can’t believe that this is a goal of mine three times a day!

For some healthy food choices and recipes containing 20 grams of fat, please visit the menu to the right and click on Food Choices Containing 20 grams of Fat.

Be well,

Deborah

Week 2: What To Eat?

Eating healthy is a priority in our home and at times demands some creativity in the kitchen.  Over all vegetables, fruits, various forms of protein and whole grains are our main staples.  

I have started to incorporate green smoothies as a regular part of my daily food intake.  Often for breakfast I have a smoothie consisting of some combination of broccoli, spinach, apple, pomegranate, banana, celery and natural unsweetened plain yogurt. You can add beets, various berries, red cabbage, carrots, peaches or other favorites. I use agave nectar as a natural sweetener which helps keep the insulin levels down.  I will post some recipes in the Healthy Recipes link.

I have also started incorporating more sprouts into my diet, which I have been growing in mason jars.  Youtube has a number of videos that will walk you through the process. I believe the more live food I am able to ingest the better it is for not only my liver but the over all health of my body. 

Make it fun.  Get creative. 

Cheers

Deborah

Week 1: Treatment Begins

As an adult reflecting on the years of my youth, I don’t recall anyone taking the time when I was a young girl to explain the dangers a child can be exposed to in their own home and community. Back then some children were not privy to the risks involved when they were exposed to ‘drug use’ and ‘child abuse’. This responsibility was entrusted to the parents and extended family members who often felt too ashamed or uncomfortable discussing it. 

You didn’t see non-profit organizations, clinics or support groups delivering programs that would provide a safe environment for this information to be publicly shared in our communities. It was viewed as inappropriate. In some cases people believed, "That doesn't happen in this community!".

In the mid-70s the downtown streets of Edmonton and Calgary had a high population of drug addicts, dealers, pedophiles and pimps. Any child living on these streets was exposed to numerous risks including contracting viruses and diseases that the world was not yet aware existed. 

This week I was reminded of those times and as I remembered, I realized I have only experienced 15 of my 53 years of this life time without HCV in my body. No one warned me. No one prepared me.

   

Monday March 17, 2012 – Week 1

As far as the treatment goes, the week has been good.  Going with the information I have had access to regarding this treatment - there have been no surprises to date. 

Monday, March 12^th I started my first doses of  peg interferon, ribavirin, and telaprevir and waited for my body’s response.  Symptoms of nausea, low grade fever, a mild headache and muscle discomfort began within 40 minutes. Throughout the day I followed the schedule of meds, fat intake and plenty of water.

By 11:00 p.m. my body was responding in full swing.  I eventually took 2 acetaminophen, which I had been avoiding. With cirrhosis I've become conditioned to taking medication only when absolutely necessary because many meds are filtered through the liver. The nurse assured me that if the symptoms reach a particular level, the acetaminophen was recommended. By morning the symptoms calmed down and the after effects were more in keeping with the flu.

Some days I need to take each hour as it comes.  I find drinking plenty of clean filtered water curbs the nausea and dizziness. Healthy food helps me from feeling too bogged down. 

I am doing my best to remain physically and mentally active even when it is difficult to get up and complete a simple task like preparing a meal. 

Meditation helps my overall mental, physical and emotional state and I welcome those quiet, private moments.

Until next time,

Deborah

Entry 5: The 'Starting Gate'

We have been hit with the storm of the year in this region of Ontario, Canada.  I think we received all the snow expected for this winter but in one deposit.

I received word last Thursday that everything has been approved by the Ministry of Health, Trillium Drug Program and Pegassist.   I can expect the triple drug therapy to arrive at my door this coming Thursday and each 3^rd Thursday to follow.
 

I have been given the option to begin the HCV therapy on whatever day of the week suits me.  Once I have chosen this ‘start’ day, I need to commit to this day of the week as the injection day. Monday is the day I have chosen. This will allow me potential access to the HCV nurse appointed to my case and/or my doctor should there be a health problem.   Going to the emergency room on a weekend or evening can be a patient’s worst nightmare here.  Also, seeing health-care professionals who are not familiar with your case can prove to be challenging for both them and you.

Until next week….

Take care,

Deborah