tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87481789163835068402024-03-12T17:05:17.339-07:00Confessions Of A Gypsy PrincessGypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.comBlogger172125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-14552677101623558792012-12-11T11:13:00.003-08:002012-12-11T11:13:48.538-08:00DOA - Diamine Oxidase and Degrading Histamine<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12px;"></span><br />
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I had some genetic testing done because I have a Mast Cell Disease (Systemic Mastocytosis) that gives me SEVERE "allergic" reactions to just about everything. But get this...I'm NOT ACTUALLY allergic to all this stuff. I've been tested for just about everything under the sun. I'm ACTUALLY allergic to a couple of things but not many.</div>
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I've been living on a low histamine diet because my Immunologist and I noticed I was reacting to LOADS of high histamine containing foods. Now, one day I can eat spinach and be fine; and another day I eat spinach and I need an epi pen and medical intervention. What gives??</div>
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So, I've learned that on a SPECIFIC GENE, on a SPECIFIC allele you can tell whether you are one of those people who have this marker for low DAO (diamine oxidase) one of the enzymes responsible for degrading histamine. So I went to my test results and had a look...guess what? I am.</div>
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So is THIS why I REALLY having "allergic reactions" to foods??? And does it have NOTHING to do with my Mast Cells having a dumping party in my blood stream? Or is it both?</div>
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And what do I do about it?</div>
Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-49424254854549369722012-11-30T11:03:00.002-08:002012-11-30T11:19:44.431-08:00Simple Design's Give Away!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Check out this AMAZING giveaway on SIMPLE DESIGN's site:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://simpledesign.net/giveaway-win-an-epiphanie-bag/#comment-6111">http://simpledesign.net/giveaway-win-an-epiphanie-bag/#comment-6111</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Who in their right mind wouldn't LOVE to win an EPIPHANIE bag???? Especially THAT one. The camera bag...oooh, a girl, or guy, could carry their whole life around in that. And those of you that know me, KNOW, my life needs a big bag. Camera's, computers, emergency medical kits, n'all....</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Good luck to everyone. Give aways are so fun!! :) And check out Simple Design's site....seriously awesome.</span>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-61463836181350095522012-11-22T16:56:00.001-08:002012-11-22T16:56:43.421-08:00Novermber blahs?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Last night I really realized what a prisoner I am in this body. I was unable to sit up or stand up without losing consciousness. I was hived up and flushing. It felt like there was a bear on my chest. This gives me an odd fluttery sensation in my chest at the same time that is disconcerting. It forces me to stay on the couch when all I want to do it get up and DO things.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Winter is here. It's cold. My winter coat is tighter that it was last year. I need to do something about that.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I wrote some of my book today. That was good. But isn't exactly a good cardio workout...know what I mean?</span>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-40531443850019104662012-11-01T07:20:00.000-07:002012-11-01T07:20:06.555-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I've left Facebook. The withdrawal pangs I felt all day yesterday were immeasurably strong...like someone needing a 'fix'. Who knew that social media could feed such fervour in a person? I've gotten over the 24 hour stretch and am feeling fine. My life hasn't fallen in around me in any great way. I've given my private email to a few hand picked individuals that I truly care about sharing correspondence with, some already have my private email or phone number, and the rest...well...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Let's see if I remember what life was like before I spent most of my reclusive life watching people's statuses change, changing mine or posting inspirational images or sayings....I have a book and a collection of poetry to write. Best get cracking.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nhFzPRl2LiQ/UJKEuItuGjI/AAAAAAAAAOc/uPFJvKr_Zyc/s1600/Farm+morning+winter+walk+2+Feb+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nhFzPRl2LiQ/UJKEuItuGjI/AAAAAAAAAOc/uPFJvKr_Zyc/s320/Farm+morning+winter+walk+2+Feb+2011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photocredit & Copyright: Fiona Smith 2012</span><br />
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<br />Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-9498623927740497762012-10-22T20:59:00.000-07:002012-10-22T20:59:40.329-07:00LOVELove is a funny thing.<br />
<br />
It can lead you down a path that might not be healthy for you.<br />
It can lead you to your soul mate.<br />
It can lead you back to your Self.<br />
<br />
But you have to be real about it.<br />
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If what you have in front of you is GOOD...Be there. With her. And love her. Don't wish to be elsewhere.<br />
<br />
BE Present.Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-33518740406697880522012-10-03T12:51:00.003-07:002012-10-03T12:52:52.500-07:00Long Time No See...or as the Japanese say "O Hisashiburi"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a LOOOOONG time. I have been in the murky muds of depression me thinks. So many anaphylactic reactions (1 a week or so, or more...), recovering, feeling isolated, and continuing to try and figure out WHO I am now.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I've started writing a collection of poetry, tentatively called "Finding Abraham's Daughter"...as you can perhaps imagine, it is what it sounds like - an exploration of the Jewishness that perhaps has always been inherent in me? If that makes any sense...And I mean I've STARTED. I've just written a few things. But I have been able to see a vision for this as a COLLECTION, so that's why I'm holding to it as such. One must have goals.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's time for me to return to the land of the LIVING. I haven't read much of anything; listened to much of anything; seen much of anything; made much of anything; engaged in much of anything. I've been sitting and sleeping on this same spot on this couch for months now and it's not getting me ANYWHERE, is it?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's a sad, sad state of affairs if ALL you've done in a day is have Facebook open on your desktop.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So...I've ventured out of my shell today...here I am...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hope you've all been as well as you can be. Please, drop me a comment, let me know how you've been. And if you blog, I'll be catching up on what you've written...</span><br />
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<br />Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-57469136419839266972012-03-04T23:37:00.000-08:002012-03-04T23:37:51.079-08:00I'm Jewish!!!<div style="text-align: justify;">Yah, you heard me right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm Jewish!!!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">How is it, I've managed to make it to 42 years of age and only just found this out???</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I recently took part in a DNA study for Myeleoproliferative Diseases, of which Mastocytosis is one, and got back a whole bunch of DNA information about myself from my spit. Pretty amazing, actually. And one of the things I learned was that I'm of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on my Mother's side. My DNA profiling could only trace my maternal line because they need a brother, Uncle or Father sample from my family to do the paternal side of the family. This came as a HUGE shocker to all of us, who up until now, thought my Mother's family was pretty much Anglo-Saxon white bread. Turns out there's some heavy duty Eastern European blood coursing through those veins.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I burst into tears when I read the report that told me this. NOT because the report was actually telling me I was carrying the three gene markers for breast cancer and that there is an 80% chance that I will develop breast cancer before the age of 60, but that these three gene markers are specifically Ashkenazic Jewish gene markers...because it felt like this huge piece of my life's missing puzzle was neatly plopped into place. And I KNEW who I was. A peace washed over me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I cried really hard for about 3 hours. My husband, between loving bouts of comfort, was laughing at me. "So I was right, you ARE a Jewish Princess!?!?!"...all these years, he's joked about me being one...and it turns out, I may well be one. I cried because I was relieved, like I said, I FINALLY sort of had a sense of WHO I was/am/ARE; but more than that...I was crying because I was thinking about EVERY single time I have been treated badly by a Jewish person for being lesser of a human being than 'them'; for being a Gentile; a Goy...things I've been called by a former roommate and her friends who used to return from Synagogue a couple of nights a week to hang out at our apartment and proceed to rip said Gentiles and Goys to pieces, including me and I was present. It was the first time in my life I experienced racial profiling and was routinely belittled for being what I was - me. Which is to say, not one of 'them'. Because that's what the world seemed to be divided into for the Jewish people I was experiencing..."THEM" and "US". Even the two extremely successful millionaires I worked for as personal and executive assistants who were Jewish...they made sure I understood that there was "US" and "THEM" and the world was divided; one was better and we (that is to say, my kind, non-Jews) were lesser. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I did take the time, during the course of knowing those people, to ask why they felt this way. Interesting to me was that all them shared the same response: "We are God's chosen people."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Apparently, this gives you a sense of superiority over all men and other races?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don't know. I can't imagine that this is ACTUALLY the case for all Jewish people. After all, it turns out that I am one. And I don't feel that way about human beings. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, I'm the first to admit, I don't know the first thing about being Jewish. I'm eager to learn though.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And it would be wrong of me to leave you thinking that I've only been treated badly by Jewish people...that's not true. I have a lovely and dear Mastocytosis friend who is Jewish, and in one of my hours of need, she kindly and voluntarily helped me with medication that I couldn't afford at the time, and I remember thinking at the time...WOW, this wonderful woman is Jewish and is helping me and isn't treating me badly because I'm Goy or Gentile, she is just a beautiful human being and I am soooo grateful for HER (and her family.) I'm not sure even she knows how that small act of kindness helped shift what had been up until that point a VERY negative experience with pretty much every Jewish person I had encountered. But she did. So, Julie, thank you. :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But here I am, 42 years old and I've just found out that I'm Jewish. It's funny but all my Jewish friends (I do have lots of Jewish friends it turns out...) all quickly wished me "Mazel Tov" and welcomed me to "The J Sisters"...and I like it. But I have to be mindful that I don't segregate the world into "them" and "us" and start enjoying belonging to a club that refused to have me as a member before now. At the end of the day, we're all human and aren't we all made in God's image and loved by Him? Am I being too idealistic?? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know it's not as simple as all this....I mean, there's being Jewish by blood and then there's being Jewish by faith. I know NOTHING about being Jewish by faith, but I want to know. I have a genuine curiosity and fascination with it (and always have) and for years have wanted to go to Synagogue. I'm not even sure how to begin though. I have no Elders in my community to look to for answers or guidance. I have no Grandmother or Grandfather or Parents to ask in the ways and traditions of my people. When I've asked my Jewish friends to help me understand and learn about being Jewish I am politely silenced. I may be asking the wrong people. (That's just occurred to me.) So for now, I will use the internet and the library to learn what I can, as I can. I guess I have another 42 years to learn what the first 42 years was missing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And so, there you go, one more gift that Mastocytosis has given me...now I know my genetic background and I'm Jewish. I would NEVER have known this if I hadn't gotten this crazy disease and taken part in this DNA study...see, you just never know where life is taking you....that's one heck of a gift I tell you. It's crazy good. I'm thrilled!</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-77432129467901567592012-02-02T18:42:00.000-08:002012-02-02T18:42:46.957-08:00JINX!<div style="text-align: justify;">So, last week when I wrote that I was afraid to jinx myself but what the heck, I was almost a week anaphylaxis free? Well, lo and behold, I ate something Thursday night (I wrote the blog on Wednesday night) that my body didn't like and whammo, I was in anaphylaxis pretty quickly. I did everything wrong too. I left the room, gagging and ran to the loo. I shut the door (thankfully didn't lock it) and proceeded to vomit into the toilet. Pretty sure the only thing keeping my airway open was my vomit forcing it's way UP the airway. Antony was frantically searching for my epi kit downstairs because it had fallen out of my bag and was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, it was found, he came upstairs to the loo and stabbed me with an epi pen...and then...sigh...everything got better. I stopped gagging and choking on my own mucous (well, the mucous slowed down...), felt like a bear had been lifted off my chest and air could go IN. Oh, it was painful not having air go in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, we got through that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My cold left.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And then we had beef stir fry for dinner again tonight. And again, I threw it up, hived up, flushed up and got short of breath, felt like a bear was sitting on my chest. The dog was going crazy around me. It's made with whole ingredients...so what is in it that I'm reacting to? The ginger? Brown sugar? Soy sauce? Garlic? Any of the veggies? The beef? All I know is, it's bloody painful to wretch it back up, so that's the last time I eat it. It's sooooooooooo delicious and is soooooooooo colourful and 'good' for you. SIGH...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The dog didn't settle down until we'd used an epi pen. He's become really attuned to what's going on when I'm reacting. He seriously starts pacing, whining, wagging his tail and whining AT us with this sense of urgency and he jumps up at me, paws at me and whines a lot. He KNOWS. At first, we thought he wanted 'out' or food or water or fuss, but once we'd ruled out these basic needs/wants, and it was obvious that it was something else that was bothering him, we let him tell us what was wrong. He danced around me and paw'd at me and whined. How does he know that I'm short of breath? Once I've had the epi pen, and am feeling better, he settles right down and cuddles up beside me. Won't leave my side.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, two epi pens since last Thursday. This has to stop.</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-30151737567862011172012-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:002012-01-25T19:04:52.564-08:00Ok...One More Crack At It...<div style="text-align: justify;">I hate jinxing myself but here I go...I've made it to ONE MORE WEEK ANAPHYLAXIS FREE!!!! It IS Tuesday, right? Oh no, it's Wednesday...it's a week and one day! Ok...a week ago, two days ago was my last one. Last Epi Pen. NOW...to make it to TWO WEEKS.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What I'm not telling you is that I've had this horrendous cold. HA HA...it's ok, I LIKE colds. Because when I get a cold, my mast cells and eosinophils leave me the BLEEP alone...weeeeee hooooo!!!! I get a rest from puking (unless it's stomach flu...) and bone pain (unless it's bad flu but even then, I'll take flu pain ANY day over bone pain) and no hives or flushing or itching....and usually, anaphylaxis and allergic reactions. I can't say the fatigue is any better because, they are comparable. And fever, well, I don't get fever with Masto. or Addisons. And I had a two day fever with this baby. But not even any green boogers. THAT's how great my immune system is. Lucky me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Which got me to today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the tail end of the cold. The fever subsided last night. The cough left. The runny nose ceased up overnight. Sore throat disappeared quickly last night. Everyone else who had this cold was knocked out with it for over a week and needed antibiotics for sinus or lung infections. But no, not me and my SUPER DOOOOOOOPER IMMUNE SYSTEM, no, I only got it for 2 and half days. (Sounds like I'm complaining, doesn't it? I just like the rest from myself...) SO TODAY...I FELT NORMAL. Only slightly congested sinuses (nothing serious) and slightly raspy voice (not enough for good phone sex) so...what does Fiona do when she feels NORMAL?!?!??! She...cleans her house.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">WHAT?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yeah, you heard me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cleans. The. House.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know. Someone shoot me. I get a good day and I waste it CLEANING my house!??!?!? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But it's almost compulsive with me. I think I feel guilty for what I'm not doing most other days and feel like as soon as I can, I MUST do this. I'm looking at it now, and it's not like you can even TELL that I toiled over what I toiled over. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And here's the worst part...I'm now sequestered on the couch because I OVERDID it, and taxed my adrenals and maybe set myself off with some dust and upset my mast cells too? It was cleaning the stairs that did it. It's a tough job that one (to do it properly.) And there was SOOOOO many dust bunnies on them. AHHHHH, it was horrid. We have a combination of wood and carpet on the stairs. Dust bunnies in the corners of the wood and little white dog hairs and lint caught in the carpet slap in the middle of the stairs. I was sweating buckets by the top stair, had the shakes, sneezing and was ready to vomit...oh, and then I did. But didn't stop there, had to make supper, so I started it and realized I was likely going to pass out in the kitchen. So I called for help. Hubby came, took one look at me and helped me to the couch. I proceeded to vomit. I continued to shake. I required help to medicate myself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">THEN, get this...our dog Jack (a mellow Jack Russell...forgive the name, he came with it...) started freaking out. We ruled out the usual suspects. He didn't need to pee. Music coming from the computer wasn't bothering him. He had water and food. He kept jumping up on the couch next to me, and pawing at me. What I wasn't saying to anyone is that my tongue was tingling, my bones were starting to hurt and my chest was feeling a bit tight. Jack kept whining and pawing at me, then started pushing me with his face. He can be a vocal dog. Not yappy but vocal when he is actually communicating and he was trying to say SOMETHING. My husband and the kids were trying to figure it out. So, I finally said "someone grab my kit, I need some epi spray, ventolin and benadryl, please." Bea ran to grab my bag. Jack barked at Bea and wagged his tail at her bringing the kit. I used the meds. He stopped being vocal and was just wagging his tail and looking at us like we were such silly humans. Then he started pushing me with his face and paws again and did so until I was lying down on the couch and he was lying down on top of me. He wanted me to lie down. My family was gobsmacked. "That dog has more sense than you do" my husband laughed. Jack then moved to the end of the couch and tugged at the folded blanket sitting on the back of the couch. I hadn't said anything to anyone, but I was cold. Our usual blanket is in the dryer being washed/dried. HOW did the dog know that I was cold!?!?? I had literally just thought it "whoa, I'm cold..." This dog has seriously blown me away tonight. As I write this, he is curled up on my legs on the spot where they hurt the worse. HOW does he know???</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, I hope I feel good by morning, I have a meeting with a client to discuss a writing job for website copy; and in the afternoon I'm doing some vocal and Self-assertion coaching with a student. I thought for sure I'd still have a cold by tomorrow and would be ok. My immune system is TOO good. </div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-52793895801772271922012-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:002012-01-14T14:17:16.406-08:00Gut Hell, Anaphylaxis and How To Help My Girl...<div style="text-align: justify;">That'll teach me to post on Facebook that I made it to two weeks anaphylactic-FREE. Then no less than 2 hours later, I ate a Ferrero Rocher chocolate and immediately started having a reaction. Started off with severe flushing, including the ears, then hypotension and then my throat started closing in and I started gagging. Mum and Antony called it right away. Epi worked her magic and then all was well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This on the heels of spending most of the day on Thursday in hospital as well. I had had 5 days of severe, and I mean SEVERE, diarrhoea (including two rather undignified accidents in my clothes) and I can't remember ever sleeping that much. Then I woke up thursday morning to rather nasty puking too, along with what I thought felt like a dehydration headache. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I got through the morning, my kids came home for lunch and I was doubled over in gut pain, wrenching and on the loo (with bowl in hand...hate it when you're dealing with both ends) and had the shakes. HOW I made them lunch is beyond me, but Mothers do all sorts of things through all kinds of situations, so...I did. Anyway, after the girls went back to school, I called my husband at work and said I needed a ride to Emerg. He came and got me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I expected to spend ages sitting in the waiting room. But when I got to triage, I puked in front of the nurse (a really nice man), explained I had Adrenal Failure and am supposed to come in after 3 days of this sort of madness but I'm on day 5, and I have Mastocytosis and it's ok if he's never heard of it. He asked me a bunch of questions and I realized then WHY I should've had someone with me...I was having trouble answering basic questions. I apologized. He said they were sending me to lab for immediate workup but first to go get registered at the next desk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was getting registered at the next desk, having more trouble answering basic questions, but still trying to be helpful. The nurse said to me at one point how pleasant I was for someone who lives with so much serious illness and how refreshing that was. Then she asked me if I'd like a wet cloth to wipe my face (because I was still puking while all this registration was going on, and I kept apologizing for it...) So she gave me a nice damp facecloth. Then she took me to lab personally and got me settled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I seriously thought, with ALL those people in the waiting room that I would sign in and have to go have a seat out there and wait forever. But no. I waited in the lab for a while and then a nurse came and got me and said the lab could come to my room to take my labs and they were going to get me comfortable. They kept coming in to change my puke bowl for me. They commiserated with my gut hell.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was pretty obvious that I had a stomach bleed going on. I've had one before. Throwing up brown, coffee grounds/curdled looking coke and gut searing pain in one area...tell tale signs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My labs came back and the Doctor came in. I had just assumed my Masto. was acting up (even though I don't usually get diarrhoea THAT bad for THAT long....) My labs showed I was badly dehydrated and fighting an infection, so she thought I had one of the nasty tummy bugs running around Winnipeg right now. She saw my puke bowl and said "stomach bleed too, huh?" and examined my tummy. We talked about how I'd one before and what we'd used to treat it. They don't carry Pantaloc at Urgent Care Misericordia Hospital, where I went, because they don't have a Gastro. Doctor on staff, so she decided to bag me with ranitidine instead and maxeran for the vomitting. I haven't had maxeran before. Usually we use Stemetil but she said they haven't used that drug since the 90's. Weird...all the hospitals I've been to have used it. Anyway, we used the maxeran and it worked BUT I reacted to it. I hived and flushed with it...but nothing else. I got two big bags of IV fluids, steroids (hadn't been able to keep my own in) and my headache totally subsided. I slept. They let me go home later that night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two days later...I am no longer puking and I have a prescription for Pantaloc to get the stomach bleed under control and my whole gut is feeling less acidic and nasty generally. It still hurts/burns to drink/eat but improving. Because of the anaphylaxis, I am now sequestered and on prednisone for 5 days. I am taking benadryl every 3-4 hours because I'm still flaring if I don't. This will probably go on for a few days. At least I'm not puking...mind you I'm not really eating (it hurts!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">ALL of this on the heels of my 10 year old having a major meltdown, after about 6 weeks of explosive behaviour, night terrors, not wanting to sleep in her bed, stalling at bedtime, irritable after school, being nasty to her sister and then it started with her speaking badly to my husband and me too. We kept speaking to her about it but it just kept going on. Then on Tuesday, it all came to head after she exploded at her sister AGAIN, and when I stepped in she blew up at me (over a painting project we were supposed to be having fun with at home). So I asked her what her problem was and after a bit more pushing, she blurted out that she is terrified of waking up and me being gone or dead; coming home from school and me being gone or dead; of one day the epi pen not working and me dying; that she's angry that I'm sick and that anaphylaxis could kill me and she's sooooooooo scared I'm going to die from it...and she broke down in a heap of wailing little girl and I held her tight, and cried with her and thought "dear God, HOW do I make this better!?!!?!?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had a long talk and hugs. I'm not sure if I handled it properly or well, but I handled it the only way I could think to at the time. I told her she had a right to be scared, angry and frustrated because what she lives with creates ALL of those feelings. I thanked her for sharing her feelings. I told her that I am doing and will do everything in my power to be well, stay well and be around for a long time. She interrupted me here and told me that she was angry with me because I DON'T look after myself properly. I take chances. I go places and eat things that can hurt me and I take risks. (Here I was thinking I needed to show my kids that I wasn't afraid to LIVE life...) So, with her sister present too, I asked them both if they both felt the same way about the taking risk thing...and they do. They are both angry with me for not being more careful. So I promised them I will be more careful hereon in. We have agreed that there ARE things that I just don't yet that can hurt me and that we will be understanding of these things that are unknown yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have been sleeping with my 10 year in her room, in her bed, with her the past few nights in order to give her a sense of security. She continues to wake up several times in the night screaming "Momma?!?!? Momma!??!? ARe you there??? MOM!?!?!?" and I gently pat her hair, tell her I am there, it's ok, and tell her she can rest and go back to sleep. And she leans in, snuggles, sniffs me and goes back to sleep. I'm hoping that this kind of nurturing will help her get some good rest and will ease up with some time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">SO imagine Thursday afternoon, after telling me all of this...she goes back to school at lunch time. Comes home after school and I'm not here. One of her greatest fears HAPPENING. My husband said she was really upset. She came home from school and I was at the hospital. She totally melted down. I was happy that she melted down though, instead of bottling it up. He said he just held her and told her that he'd seen me and they were giving me medicines and they were taking good care of me and I was going to be ok and home later. When I got home from the hospital, she ran and hugged me for dear life. That night, she woke up, I'm not kidding, about 11 times. Serious night terrors. All about me dying. So at 4 am, when she was awake, I suggested maybe tomorrow she not go to school.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday, then, she had a 'personal' day off of school. We snuggled all day on the couch and watched movies. She kept saying to me, all day long, "Mom I love you." I just kept telling her "I'm here. I love you too." She is more relaxed today. She only woke up 4 times last night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Think I might have to pick up a book on 'attachment' parenting or something. It's going to take some serious love to help this little girl grow up healthy. I mean, I know we can't help this reality we're living with, but there's GOT to be something we can do to help her through it. If anyone has suggestions...I'm all ears.</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-19150056151287837262012-01-05T23:26:00.000-08:002012-01-05T23:29:38.889-08:00GIRLY Day<div style="text-align: justify;">Today I threw a little caution to the wind, and may well end up paying for it, but it was worth it. I took my daughters to the hair salon to my favourite Hair Goddess, Laura. Hattrix on Pembina Hwy. in Winnipeg is FABULOUS place to go if you have allergies/sensitivities or Mastocytosis because they care. Laura de-latexes her shop and doesn't wear any perfume the day that we come in. She's wonderful. As is her salon-co-Goddess, Michelle. And it doesn't hurt that they are both gorgeous women to boot.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My 10 and 13 year old beauties had their heads massaged, their locks loved and their mops shaped nicely and are ready to go back to school in style. And more importantly, they love the way that they look. They are happy. I caved and went back to red, lopped a few inches off my mop and my husband LOVES my new 'do'...I didn't have time to love myself up yet because after our appointment, we had to rush off to my Doctor's appointment, so I didn't really get a chance to 'settle' in to my new look or play with some make up or anything.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The appointment with my family Doctor was...sobering.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I went in there for refills on my prescriptions for Topomax for migraines, sleeping pills and to discuss perhaps other ways of managing my migraines (coming off Topomax...only been on it since Sept.), the sleeping pills and perhaps some alternatives to handling my incessant nausea and vomiting? My Doctor was pretty blunt with me. "You are a very sick woman, and we are not changing a THING." Not until he talks to my Immunologist anyway. And she's not talking to anyone until I see the Endocrinologist about the Addison's Disease/Adrenal Insufficiency. (Hopefully then, they'll all be speaking to each other???) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's the low down I got:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sleeping Pills: I'm a sick woman. I'm on Disability for a reason. Sleeping pills only work for so long and then no longer work (I've been on them for about 4 years now...) SO...have to take them for 4 days with a 3 day break. Pick my 4 days I want to sleep in a week and pick my 3 days I don't want to sleep. It's no big deal if I'm zombie woman for 3 days or so, apparently....</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Topomax: No adding or taking away from the med regime at this time. This med. keeps me from being in bed 2-3 days a week with migraines. The fact that it impairs my cognitive function is no big deal for the world at large at the moment. Apparently I'm not writing any PhD's or Theses at this time, so I'm no great loss to the world at large...my only job right now is to remain anaphylaxis free and out of hospital for a second week in a row. Don't need cognitive function for that, apparently....(excuse me while I wipe the drool up off the side of my face.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Vomiting/Nausea: I have Gravol and Stemetil in pill and injectable forms for this problem. My Doctor tells me that Stemetil is a powerful antinauseant and SHOULD be enough to ward off the problem. If it isn't, then it's only a problem IF I'm not getting enough nutrition, I'm losing weight and my electrolytes are imbalanced. I give him an example of a typical sort of eating pattern is "I ate an egg and toast this morning; i puked up dinner last night, ate yesterday morning, puked up dinner the night before, puked up lunch and breakfast before that, kept dinner in the night before but just about passed out at the table, puked all day before that and 3 days before that, sipped on Pedialyte but spewed up bits of it intermittently." He asked if I'd lost weight. I said I didn't think so. One of the conundrums that Doctors often find hard to believe with Masto. is that we puke and have diahrea a lot but still manage to gain a lot of weight. We don't understand it. There's some theories that the meds we are on put on a lot of weight or that we are in some sort of starvation mode but...the jury is out. He shook his head and said medicine has virtually no caloric intake so it can't really make you gain weight. Hmm, my ass tells a different story. He asked what I weigh. So I was honest. The last time I stepped on my Mother's scales, it said I was 228lbs. AHHHHH!!!! So he said before I left today I was to be weighed. Whatever. So I got weighed. His scales said I weighed 211lbs. So now I have to be weighed each time I come in. And I had my waist measured. I felt like a bad child.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We also had an interesting little interlude about my Immunlogist and Staff. He asked when I was seeing her. I said I had managed to see her Dec. 23rd. Originally, I had had a November 16th appointment but had suffered anaphylaxis on November 15th and was too sick on the 16th to go and her secretary was less that nice about it. Her 'rebook' time, earliest appointment, was March 7th. Despite numerous call backs for cancellations, NONE were available. So, I said I had called and 'threatened her secretary.' The first words out of his mouth were "don't ever do that to my staff." I was sort of joking when I said it. I mean I didn't REALLY threaten anyone. But then I said, without thinking, "I don't NEED to do that your staff. You have great staff. Your staff are friendly and accommodating and nice. No need to say things like 'I wonder what Dr. Hicks is going to say on March 7th when I finally get to see her and I've been having anaphylaxis once a week since November and I tell her that her secretary wouldn't let me see her?" He then asked me how the appointment went. I felt like a naughty school child.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In fact, I felt like a naughty child the entire appointment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I shouldn't let THIS be the focus of my entire day because I spent a WONDERFUL evening visiting with a dear Winnipeg friend of mine who has since moved to BC and is now working in a BC Medicinal Marijuana Dispensing Pharmacy. She educated me ALL about how the system works, how the different grades of marijuana are helping people, what they do, how they MIGHT be able to help me (instead of prescription drugs???) and showed me her license. Boy did I learn a lot. I was under the impression that marijuana was ALL THC but it has other properties it in it that are great for pain management, nausea, etc. HOLY DINAH!!!! AND you don't have to smoke it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We also talked about other healing modalities, so it was a well rounded conversation. And a visit well overdue. I really enjoyed my evening with her. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After reading some other blogs, I'm feeling rather shy about my blog. It's not all that insightful, witty or poignant. I realize this might be in part due to my cognitive impairment but I just don't have it in me to be anything more than I am right now. So this is it. Warts and all.</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-30574437614016149432011-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:002011-12-27T20:49:56.861-08:00Having a POTSY Time of It All<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I don’t really give my POTS diagnosis all that much attention. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Today I read this: <a href="http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20090531%2FNEWS0107%2F905310408%2F1001%2FNEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01&template=print">http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20090531%2FNEWS0107%2F905310408%2F1001%2FNEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01&template=print</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It really made me think about HOW chronic illness in children sucks so much more than it does for adults. I mean don’t get me wrong, it sucks royally for adults, but before I got sick, I went to school, traveled, had lovers, published poetry, had art on display, learned foreign languages, studied an instrument, learned about the 5 elements, I loved, I lost, I learned, I lied, I lusted, I rode horses, swam in the sea, rivers and lakes, had flown in a plane, taken a train, a bus, learned to drive, been a Fire Fighter and First Responder, moved out on my own, found Art, got married and had babies. So…I had done a few things by the time I was imprisoned by illness. But children…they are having trouble getting out the learning gate and can’t even complete High School because illness ravishes their ability to learn; to concentrate and retain information. Let alone feeling well enough to exercise their young bodies and to enjoy being young. You can't join a team, go on a date, go to a dance, drive your first car, make out, go to the bar, sleepover at a friends house, go to camp, go to college or university, finish High School or go to Prom if you're too sick to get out of bed or stand up for very long.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I didn’t realize that POTS makes you so sleepy, lethargic, hurt and nauseas too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was just a blood pressure thing that made you sort of fall down after dinner or if you got up too quickly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some other folks online with POTS and I just assumed that their experience with POTS was way more severe than mine, and attributed my possible POTS symptoms to Masto. and/or Addsions symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trouble is, there is a lot of overlap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what symptoms belong to what…and what treatment, if any, is best suited to it? Do you use an epi pen for syncoping/fainting/black outs? You do if it’s Masto. and is a drop in Blood Pressure due to anaphylaxis. But do you if it’s POTS related drop in BP and increase in heart rate? Or is it Addisons and do you just need extra steroids?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After I got the diagnosis from my Internist of this condition, I remember coming home to the computer and searching Google frantically for signs of good articles on the subject and only sort of ascertaining what fragmented piece of truth I’ve been carrying around the past while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Internist, when telling me this is what I had going on, in conjunction with Addison’s Disease and Mastocytosis, that I needed to be careful getting up from the dinner table after eating and to add more salt to my diet. But that was about all she said about how to manage it. She said I had so much going on, I might not even notice the POTS being POTS but it was present. I left there feeling like it was no big deal. She had sort of implied POTS would take a back seat to Masto. and Addisons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps she was right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The not so subtle observation - that is not lost on me, of course is that…POTS, like Addisons and Mastocytosis is incurable. HOW exactly is it I have ended up with THREE incurable conditions/illnesses/diseases at the same time??? How does this kind of chaos happen to a person? More questions than answers, right? Which always brings me back to the children. Thank God I’ve got these conditions instead of some kid having them. If someone had to have them, better me than a child, yes? (What kind of bargaining tool is that, huh?) Or thank the heavens that I got to experience a bit of life before I got saddled with these illnesses that have changed the course of my life; changed my body, changed my soul and changed my very Being?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I do know I’ll be paying a bit more attention to this POTS thing instead of blaming Masto. and Addisons, especially Masto., for just about everything. Time to get a bit more discerning and hypervigilant in my self-observations.</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-55792335205225630142011-12-26T18:18:00.000-08:002011-12-26T18:23:22.473-08:00Christmas Day<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Christmas. What a joyeous time of year. Time to get insular with the family unit. I love it. This year marks the first time in over a decade that I get to spend time with my side of the family. We moved back to Winnipeg this past Autumn and up until now my husband’s family have had the monopoly on such festive events (which have been lovely in their own right.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Needless to say, we were up and atem at 7 am and on the road to Auntie Pam and Uncle Pete’s house at 7am. We got here, after picking up cousins in the city, about 7:45 am and the kids were all still sleeping. Coffee and tea were on, the living room was FILLED with presents and excitement filled the hearts of big and little people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I, personally, had NO IDEA what was in store for me as I made no Christmas wish list. My Auntie Pam was amazing. She got me (from Santa) a sheepskin full body massive massage mat; a new heat pad (I blew out two this year), and a full body heated blanket throw…for a sick person, is there anything better for sick days??? I don’t think so….</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What IS lovely is that I’m having a pretty good day, despite having to use an epi pen during the night. Despite being told that I HAVE to go to hospital when I use an epi pen by my new Immunologist, Dr. Hicks, I didn’t want to ruin Christmas with a trip to hospital and felt better after I used it. This was the 3<sup>rd</sup> attempt at sleeping in my bedroom and the third choking reaction I’ve had in my own room/own bed. Not sure what is going on but something is awry in my bedroom. So after the epi pen, and puking a bit, I was wired for sound for a bit and finally fell asleep with Benadryl and sleeping pills on the couch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I am still covered in the remnants of hives, which are still flaring every 3-4 hours if I don’t keep on top of the Benadryl, from some sort of reaction midweek. I needed an epi pen earlier this week too. I know, I was supposed to go the hospital then too. My legs are covered in little red dots from my scratching the tops of the hives off. I know it’s time for more Benadryl because I start itching like hell. I’m starting to give my friend Scotty a complex. He came over last night and I started scratching….he said “every time I come over you start scratching. Are you allergic to me?” I assured him it wasn’t him. Just had a rough week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">On top of all this, I think I have a bladder infection today. I can’t pee, despite needing to really badly. Frak. Trying to avoid the hospital at all cost though.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Later: had to use another epi pen. To go to hospital or not to go to hospital…on Christmas Day? OMG…no. We caught it early in the reaction, so really I felt a tonne better quite quickly. I KNOW I’m supposed to go in but…ugh, I have prednisone, ranitidine, stemetil and Benadryl here, and most of that in injectable form so I can use that if I’m puking too. There I was at Auntie Pams minding my own business and I just started flushing and hiving for no reason, then the uncontrolled, involuntary, hacking started, then mucus started forming in my throat and I started gagging and uncontrolled coughing, then it felt like a bear was sitting on my chest and my husband called it. It just keeps getting worse if we wait. We’ve done this enough times to know now. My family were very cool about the whole ordeal actually. With 19 people there to celebrate Christmas, it could’ve gotten ugly but I have a supportive family and they were great. They sequestered me to the couch with pillows and blankets and all kept an eye on me. I love my family. They made me stay there for the rest of the day.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">You gotta love the unpredictability of Mastocytosis. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I hope your Christmas Day was infinitely less reactive and calmer. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and wishing you all the joy, personal peace, love, warmth and prosperity you can handle in the year ahead.</div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-83900267822618872822011-12-11T19:43:00.000-08:002011-12-11T19:50:09.453-08:00So, it's the end of another week. It was a pretty good one, overall. My Motherinlaw came to visit and we celebrated Christmas with her early...we pretended last Saturday night was Christmas Eve. and last Sunday morning was Christmas morning, complete with stockings and present opening. I roasted a turkey for dinner with all the trimmings. We watched Christmas movies and put Christmas music on. It was fun.<br />
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Only, now, it feels weird that we're doing it all over again on the 24th/25th. LOL. But we'll be going to my Auntie Pam and Uncle Pete's place out in the country, with all my cousins and their babies. It'll be a total hoot. I'm looking forward to it.<br />
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Our Manitoba Health cards came. It's official...we're Manitoba residents now.<br />
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Had to use an epipen during the week. My Motherinlaw gave it to me. She accidentlly misfired it though and in addition to cutting my leg with it, the needle cut clean through her finger tip and part of her fingernail. We had to watch she didn't get any epinephrine in her body because she has heart issues. Fortunately, she was fine. PHEW... Anyway, she used a second one correctly and the epi worked. My bloodpressure just suddenly dropped...at least that's what we think happened. I couldn't even sit up without feeling like I was going to pass out. I tried at least nine times to sit up, and each time was met with the same sensation...like my heart was 'backwashing', the air was suddenly thick, I was suddenly jello and couldn't hold myself up, and then syncope. <br />
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My Motherinlaw is a former nurse and she felt my hands and feet and said they were icy cold and the nails had gone bluish/purple...so in light of all of that and my knowing how these episodes usually go (I usually end up on the ground unconscious because at some point I HAVE to get up to pee or something...) we decided to get it over with. The epi totally did the trick.<br />
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So, I've been taking it fairly easy most of the week because it's been a few weeks of epi pens, benadryl and steroids. I've stayed indoors most of this week. I've asked for help. I've made shopping lists instead of trying to do these things myself and then getting icky. I've ordered food in when I've felt too weak or exhausted to cook.<br />
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Insomnia has been pretty bad this week though. Not quite sure what to do about that, as I take benadryl and sleeping pills to no avail.<br />
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I saw Dr. Glew, my new family Doctor, on Tuesday and we went over all my medication with a fine toothed comb. I think he thought initially that I was overly medicated and that we'd see what we could get rid of but once we went through it all, he realized I needed each and every one of the meds I'm on and why. SIGH...I was sort of hoping to get rid of some too. He DID, however, take me off Tramadol with Acetominophen in it because I was taking quite a lot of it for bone pain and he was worried about how long I'd been (and how much I'd been) using and the effects on my liver. So now I'm on straight Tramadol. Will let you know how it works when I try it.<br />
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I'm also relieved that he refilled my Stemetil injection script because that's vital for stopping nausea and my barfing sessions. Otherwise I'm barfing for weeks instead of days or hours.<br />
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We also discussed the panic attacks I've been experiencing as of about 3 weeks ago. Luckily, I have Ativan on hand, but hardly ever use. Panic attacks feel like you're having a heart attack, OMG, they are PAINFUL and SCARY!!! It's weird too, they hit when I'm totally relaxed and groovy. Dr. Glew said that he's hardly surprised with all I lived with that this is the case. I have the right medication for them, and it works. So GREAT, I now have THESE going on too. OH JOY.<br />
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My friend Drea gave me a beautiful bag for my birthday back in October with a book inside called "10 Days To Self Esteem". It's essentially a workbook, for (as the title suggests) leading you back to your Self and regrowing your Self Esteem. So, today I open it up and start reading it and I take the first two standardized Depression and Anxiety tests. Guess what? I, apparently, suffer with SEVERE DEPRESSION and SEVERE ANXIETY. WHY am I the last person to know these things!?!?!??! I know I shouldn't laugh at this, but I can't help it. It's kinda funny because when she gave me the book I thought to myself "WHY are you giving me THIS book???? My Self Esteem is quite fine, thank you." It turns out...it isn't. <br />
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Has everyone else known this about me all this time, and I haven't???Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-38676085361356761342011-12-02T14:33:00.000-08:002011-12-02T14:33:33.698-08:00End of The WeekI woke up this morning feeling like a 90 year old woman. I swear to God, someone beat my body with a massive mallet while I sleeping. My husband looked at me this morning with sympathetic eyes and said "Oh Duck, let me get your heat pad" and motioned for me to get on the couch first thing. Thankfully I didn't have to make any lunches today or get anyone's breakfast.<br />
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I take Tramadol for pain now. I won't lie. It's not as effective as Percosets BUT Percs come with their own demons...like addiction, fierce mood swings, nasty temper, foul mouth and give me bad dreams. However, their pain relief is much sweeter and I miss that. Two Tramadols do nothing. Nor do three. If I take four, it takes about two hours for the pain relief to kick in but then it kicks in and works for a while. I don't reccommend that anyone else do this. I'm just saying what gets me through my own personal hell when it's present. Usually though, I just suffer. Oh, and Tramadol costs four times what Percosets cost, which is retarded. HOWEVER, Tramadols don't make me foul-tempered or make my children look at me and ask "Mummy, did you take that medicine that makes you angry?"...'nuff said. NO Percosets.<br />
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I still have no appetite. I've thrown up dinner the past two nights when I've MADE myself eat something. What's the point in eating.<br />
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I'm back to regular steroid use so I'm guessing the steroid honeymoon and inflammation relief is over. However, because I've been sequestered to the house and not eating or trying anything, I've NOT been reactive or in need of epi pens. YEAH!!!!<br />
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On another note, I'm going Christmas shopping with my husband tonight. For the rest of the world that might sound really exciting or like fun. For me though, it means sitting in the car, in Winnipeg, in the cold, directing the next purchases in the next store. I can't go INTO the shops. Not even to shop for my own husband. I have to tell him what I want to get him and he goes in and gets it for himself. There is no longer any element of surprise. You might say...can't you ask your family to help you? But my parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and don't celebrate Christmas or Birthdays; my brothers and sisters live in other countries or are dead; my cousins are busy with their own lives and it's not fair of me to bother them. I don't trust the internet to buy things online, except for Amazon and there's only so many books a person can buy. SO...Christmas and surprising my husband and shopping in general is a real challenge and I find it really hard NOT to get bummed out about it all. I used to pride myself on being a really great gift giver. This has been a hard pill to swallow. Yet another harsh Mastocytosis bit of mayhem. <br />
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So, I have my list. Hubby and I will trek out in the car. I will get a Tim Horton's coffee to keep me warm and my Hubby will go in and out of the stores doing my bidding and will, checking my lists, coming out and letting me know what IS and ISN'T available. Somehow, Christmas STILL manages to happen...the magic STILL happens and the smiles still bless the faces of my children come Christmas morning...so we must be doing something right.Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-25349617962321904822011-12-01T22:22:00.001-08:002011-12-01T22:22:42.170-08:00Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-77196571401526558312011-11-30T22:25:00.000-08:002011-11-30T22:37:00.126-08:00Wednesday - Midweek Throughts, Feelings & ObservationsIt was suggested that I blog about my anaphylaxis on the weekend. This would be my FOURTH, count'em, FOURTH, epi pen in November!!!...starting to feel like a pin cushion. Not to mention ALL the injectable benadryl, stemetil, gravol and steroids I've had to use to help with the reactions in and around the epi pens.<br />
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I had been feeling not so hot for a few days at the end of last week, as it was. But we had dinner plans with our dear friends Ingrid and Grant. Grant is really proud of his BBQ'ing prowess....the kind that takes HOURS to perfect and you see on those BBQ PIT MASTER tv shows. Not your rinky dinky slap a few burgers on the barby sort of thing you see in beer commercials. NO...this BBQing is SERIOUS business. I knew he'd got the ribs the night before, and made his own rub for them and was being UBER careful about the rub he was putting on them, becasue of my food allergies. His wife was being UBER careful about the side dishes with all my food senstivities and allergies, which is SOOOOOOOOOO amazing and wonderful SO, I wasn't about to cancel dinner on them because I felt a little 'off'.<br />
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About an hour before we were due there, my husband said to me "Honey, I really think we should call and bail, you don't look like you're up to this tonight." <br />
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"I've been medicating. I'll take more. We're going." I insisted. "I'll put makeup on...that's what it's for. No, we're going." Besides, the last time we'd gone for dinner there, we'd had SUCH a GREAT night over there, I was hoping we'd have another great night...<br />
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I never wear foundation or that short of heavy shit on my face, but went and put that on, powdered my face, mascara'd, eye shadowed, lipsticked and a blackshirt (in case I needed needles...white shirts show up the blood if they leak...), whipped up a couple of maple pecan pies to take and we headed out.<br />
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On route, I felt like I was going to chirp. We hadn't even't LOOKED at food yet and I was feeling barfy. I pulled the mirror down in the car, and sure enough, I was flushing (that's why I was itchy) and my tongue was a bit fat. Shit...So I got out my needle kits. Normally I don't use needles unless we are in an emergency but we were a few minutes away from arriving at their house and I wanted to make sure the drugs would be effective SOON, so I started drawing the needles up in the car. Antony found a safe place to pull in (Assiniboine Park) and a few needles later, we were ready to rucuss. Holy cow, you'd think I'd be over how much they hurt but I never am...they hurt. They make me wince. Sometimes I cry.<br />
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We arrived, all smiles.<br />
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And all was well for the first two hours. We ate dinner. I was careful to only eat a small amount of everything so as not to over burden my delicate system. I wanted to gorge. The ribs were AMAZING (we used Bradley's Maple Syrup from Orrvile...THE best Maple Syrup money can buy!!!!) and the baked squash/yam dish with crushed pecans on top, and the coleselaw. <br />
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So there we are two hours later, plahing Catan (board game), having coffee, when out of the blue, I start sneezing. I don't normally sneeze more than once but I couldn't stop. This progressed quite quickly to tongue tingling, to lip tingling to scratchy thoat to little hack hack hacks, to not being able to swallow my saliva to uncontrolled coughing to gagging to not being able to breathe.. My airway between the back of my throat and down my wind pipe to my lungs had closed in. My lungs hurt. While I was busy fumbling with my epi spray and TRYING to say "I'm fine; I'm ok" my husband reached for my bag and got an epi pen and just stabbed me.<br />
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Within seconds the relief in my throat was AMAZING. It was like the vice around my throat was released and the bear sitting on my chest had been rolled off. And...I could breathe.<br />
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At this point, we are supposed to call an ambulance and seek medical attention. IF this kind of thing happens to you, I am supposed to encourage you to do the same thing.<br />
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I did not.<br />
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We did not.<br />
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This is my 79th anaphylactic reaction and epi pen in the past 4 years. There are times when I neeed to go to the hospital and this was not one of them. I gave myself a benadryl injection and a steroid injection, and we waited for any signs of a rebound reaction....which did not happen. HAD there been one, absoltuely, we would have called for an ambulance. <br />
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Our friends had never seen anything like it. One minute I was fine. Then next I just wasn't. "Welcome to Mastocytosis" we laughed later. We continued to play Catan and I pretended to drink coffee. It's hard to hold a cup when you have epi shakes. Easy to roll the dice, mind you, with the shakes, but hard to hold a coffee cup.<br />
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Now, I am sequestered to the house for 5 days to get over the reaction because my body is fragile and any exposure can put me in hospital. I should be taking prednisone right now but I didn't seek medical attention, so I'm just doubling up on hydrocortisone instead. <br />
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I'm hardly eating anything though. I have NO appetite. I'm having to force myself to eat things to avoid hunger headaches, but I just can't bring myself to eat much. I've lost my love to eat food. I'm trying to be creative in kitchen for my family, and in the hopes that the deliciousness will inspire me to eat, but I usually just end up puking it up anyway, so WHAT's the point!?!?!? I'm sooooooooooooooo sick of puking. <br />
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Guess I can talk to Dr. GLew, my new family Doctor, when I see him on MOnday. He wants to go over the MASSIVE list of medications that I'm on right now and talk about what's what and why. I'll put that list up in a blogpost in the next day or so, so you can see how monstrous and insane it is. Not sure if he'll be able to help with puking thing because it's probably just Masto. or Addison's Disease but...holy Dinah, I barf a LOT. Doesn't even phase my family anymore, they are so used to it.<br />
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What I HAVE had the past two days, probably from ALL the steroids I've taken over the weekend, is feeling good. I know it's probably a false sense of wellness, from the steroids but I'll take it. It's nice NOT to be in so much pain you just want to crawl into a hole and die. It's nice to clean your house, visit with people and actually be able to FOCUS on what they are saying because you aren't in agony or needing to run to the washroom because soup is about to explode out of your butthole, or vomit out of your mouth. SO, the Christmas tree went up (early, I know...but my Motherinlaw is visiting for an early Christmas this week, from Ontario!!!) and I've been alert and present and feeling pretty normal. Hope it continues (fat chance...lol.)<br />
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Anyway, hopefully we use 1 or less epi pens for December.<br />
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Hope you're hanging in there, life is good and that you're being patient with yourself,<br />
FionaGypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-7504526424988721962011-11-23T14:18:00.000-08:002011-11-23T14:18:35.050-08:00Long Time No WriteIt's been a LONG time since I blogged...like just over a year. It's not that I haven't had anything to say. It's just that certain people were telling me what TO SAY and what I SHOULD and SHOULDN'T say on this space and I found it difficult to have my own voice with that kind of malarky going on. Hopefully, those voices have quieted down now and this space can be what it is intended to be...a place to work out the wranglings of learning to live with a creative Self inside an incurable illness and the changes that this brings to life.<br />
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What IS different between this time last year and now is that I've had a full year of rest. This time last year, I was diagnosed with Addison's Disease on top of Mastocytosis. For those of us unfamilair with Addison's Disease, it's basically when your adrenal glands (your 'fight or flight' glands) stop working. They stop producing Cortisol, a much needed hormone that governs inflammation response in the body so that it stops your body's joints from hurting, for example. Cortisol also plays a pivotol role in things like vomitting too because when my cortisol levels are too low I puke a lot. A LOT. It bites. It must govern body temperature too because since I started on Cortisol I've not been as cold as I used to be. This time last year I was driving my husband mental by turning the heat up to 22 degrees at the farmhouse and STILL being cold. Thankfully, those days are over. I can now keep mostly warm. As long as I keep a steady stream of Cortisol pumping through this body.<br />
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I don't like the idea of being steroid dependent the rest of my life. Quite frankly, it does my head in. As if I don't take enough medication for Mastocytosis. My Immunologist, who had wanted to put me on steroids for some time anyway, thought the Addison's diagnosis was a stroke of sheer brilliance. To his mind, being on steroids helps with the Masto. situation too. So I take 20 mgs of Cortisol in the mornings and 10 mgs in the afternoon. Unless I am under some duress or stress, then I have been told by my Internist, to double that dose.<br />
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Since the last time I blogged on here, we have also moved...to Winnipeg, the center of Canada. The climate is MUCH dryer than that of Ontario and is proving to be much more hospitable for my mast cells. I've heard this same sort of report from people in Arizona, only their reports are warmer. I wish I could say that I've been without reactions or anaphylaxis since we've moved here, but that simply is not the case. But my joints don't hurt with nearly as much fiercity. They still hurt, badly, but less so. My sinuses aren't so runny or clogged (either) and I need less Reactine. Mind you, I've had more nosebleeds, as have my children. Welcome to a dryer climate.<br />
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One of the challenges I face currently is putting together a health care team of the the calibre that I had in Ontario. I had a brilliant Family Doctor in Parry Sound; a great Immunologist in Toronto and a fabulous Internist in Parry Sound. Until this morning, I had had awful luck with Doctors in Manitoba...the only Doctor I had gotten to see being uninterested in Mastocytosis and unwilling to learn about it and not pretending about it either. However, this morning, that light shifted and I found a new family Doctor willing to take on my healthcare challenges AND willing to look after my children too AND he was nice. He thinks I need an Immunologist ASAP and an Endocrinologist. I am to get some bloodwork done asap and go back and see him next week to discuss my medication and actual needs with him without my children present. I got a great vibe from him. He didn't pretend to know about Mastocytosis (but knows about Addisons!) but is willing to learn. And more importantly, he didn't treat me like a crazy woman.<br />
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We've moved into a smaller, easier to manage home in Winnipeg. I've had a tough time adjusting to this smaller home but my husband's logic and reason has won me over...as has his space saving solutions and this cozy little pad of ours. I've had to admit that he is right...THIS WAS THE RIGHT ANSWER. I can no longer manage to clean a big house or look after one. This is just the right size. I am no longer overwhelmed by what I can't accomplish but feel good by what I can get done because it doesn't overburden me AND we are all comfortable in this space. We've had to downsize a LOT of things and stuff in our lives to get here, but it was worth the effort. Our space is no longer overwhelmed when I'm too sick to get out of bed to deal with it. And when I'm well enought to deal with it, it's great too! There's no more feeling like a total failure when I'm too sick to deal with it all. We just wait for a better day and embrace it when it happens. :) I think we've finally figured out how to be graceful under pressure.Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-11754410695723782182011-11-22T12:45:00.001-08:002011-11-22T12:45:29.153-08:00Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-44957588340926093362010-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:002010-10-19T14:48:44.900-07:00November is Novel Writing Month!My husband sent me the link for this: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano so, I've decided, after much thought today, to take part in it. I will get an outline done in the next week or so, and then commit to getting my first novel DONE.<br />
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I also need to cut the nails on my left hand so I can play guitar. They got in the way yesterday.<br />
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Today was a 'sick' day, so I slept most of the day...so haven't got any new art or ideas to share. I woke up feeling really worthless and useless and self-pitying at about 3pm, but thankfully no longer in migraine hell. I think this must be par for the course with illness. I get frustrated by my limitations. I miss driving. I REALLY miss driving. I can't handle this isolation and loneliness. I can literally go all week without seeing or talking to another soul all day. I wait for my husband and children to get home from their days at school and work and am met with "not much"; "I don't know" or "it was ok" when I ask about their days. Doesn't really make for meaningful communication, ya know? I can't do this much longer. I can't live here much longer. I'm going mental. This gorgeous place is for seniors, retiree's, vacationers and people that drive.Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-82346262259049402452010-09-24T11:58:00.000-07:002010-09-24T21:08:25.799-07:00New Art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TJzzL0KcaMI/AAAAAAAAANo/4XCxVtJoeiA/s1600/Roy%27s+bike....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TJzzL0KcaMI/AAAAAAAAANo/4XCxVtJoeiA/s320/Roy%27s+bike....jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is Roy's bike. It's a Kawasaki 1100. This picture is done in pencil, graphite and ink. I'm finding the combination of the three media effective.<br />
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I'm currently working on some varied art for cards. These cards will be available for sale through both Canadian (one set) and USA (another set) Mastocytosis Societies. They will be blank greeting cards to support Mastocytosis research and a search for a cure. Will post these when I'm done.<br />
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I went to my first Live Figure Drawing class last night. Nude model. Really great experience. I got loads of positive feedback on my 'studies' (I'm not to call them 'doodles' anymore...) Some are 30 second; some 10 minute and some 20 minute studies in still live. I will continue to honour, work with and grow the creativity that I've been blessed with. I will let the 'Divine' in me, emerge.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TJ10rYfjWzI/AAAAAAAAAOA/YLGXnYgTbTc/s1600/Life+Drawings+-+studies+in+female+beauty+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TJ10rYfjWzI/AAAAAAAAAOA/YLGXnYgTbTc/s320/Life+Drawings+-+studies+in+female+beauty+003.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-30946486065646953442010-09-07T14:28:00.000-07:002010-09-07T14:30:56.311-07:00Love Is In The Air, AgainThis past weekend I was witness to, and discreetly (or mostly discreetly) taking photo's of a blessed event. It was SUCH a special time. My dear friend E.'s parents divorced after a couple of decades of marriage, spent some time in their separate lives lamenting and missing one another, and then...they got back together. This past weekend they got married AGAIN.<br />
<br />
It was EVERYTHING a wedding should be: intimate, loving, precious, warm, fuzzy, funny and relaxed. They shared nuptials with a grandson as the Best Man; a son-in-law giving the bride away; a daughter as Maid of Honour and two very special young ladies as Flower Girls. And me, flitting around taking photo's, while my oldest daughter played 'cued' music at the right moment. And, one Officiating wedding lady.<br />
<br />
What was incredible was the incredible downpour of rain we've had for over 5 days, and that there was one sparse, small, window of sunshine and blue skies...during the service, beside the naturally occurring waterfall at the cottage. It was like God or the Universe was blessing their union. Magical.<br />
<br />
When I have permission, I will share some photo's that I took. I gotta say, with that much love in the air, it was difficult to take a bad photo.<br />
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The nuptials made me want to say and witness my love for my husband all over again.<br />
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The reception? Great food, great wine (for those that can) and GREAT company. I had a blast. Thank you for letting me be a special part of it, and extra special thanks to Erin for helping me with my medications so that I could keep up the guise of being 'normal' for the event. It's special moments like this that make life the celebration that it should be.<br />
<br />
Thanks. xoxoGypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-37813141859445455492010-08-15T16:36:00.000-07:002010-08-15T16:39:40.815-07:00Low Histamine DietPeople often ask about the dietary restrictions I live with; that folks with Mastocytosis live with. I've borrowed this page from a good source (cited.) I use this diet plus the latex-crossover foods that must be avoided, as I have a severe latex allergy. Have used this diet with some success. I'm human.<br />
<br />
http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm <br />
<h2>Histamine-Restricted Diet</h2>Information on this page comes from <a href="http://www.hallpublications.com/title1.html" target="_blank">Dietary Management of Food Allergies & Intolerances: A Comprehensive Guide</a>, by Janice Vickerstoff Joneja. 1998. J. A. Hall Publications.<br />
<ul class="hidefromprint"><li><a href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#foodsource">Food Sources of Histamine</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#urtchapter">From the Urticaria Chapter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#allowedrestricted">Allowed/Restricted Foods</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#Urticariadiet">Histamine Restricted Diet for Control of Urticaria/Angioedema</a></li>
</ul><h3><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8748178916383506840&postID=3781314185944545549" id="foodsources" name="foodsource"></a>Food Sources of Histamine</h3>Histamine occurs in food as a result of microbial enzymes converting the amino acid histidine (present in all proteins) to histamine. All foods subjected to microbial fermentation in the manufacturing process contain histamine. Included in this category are cheeses, fermented soy products, other fermented foods (e.g. sauerkraut), alcoholic beverages, and vinegars. <br />
Foods exposed to microbial contamination also contain histamine in levels determined by the extent and rate of action of the microbes. Histamine levels reach a reactive level long before any signs of spoilage occur in the food. This characteristic has important implications in fin fish, where bacteria in the gut are particularly active in converting histidine to histamine. The longer the fish remains ungutted, the higher the levels of histamine in the flesh. <br />
Some foods such as eggplant and spinach contain high levels of histamine naturally. In addition, a number of food additives such as azo dyes and preservatives mediate the release of histamine. <br />
Some of these chemicals such as benzoates occur naturally in foods, especially fruits, and may have the same effect as the food additive in releasing histamine. <br />
The histamine restricted diet excludes all foods known to contain high levels of histamine or to contain chemicals that can promote the physiological release of histamine.<a class="backtotop" href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#top"><br />
Back to top of page</a><br />
<h3><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8748178916383506840&postID=3781314185944545549" id="urtchapter" name="urtchapter"></a>From the Urticaria Chapter</h3>The foods most commonly reported to induce urticaria are shellfish, fish, egg, nuts, chocolate, berries, tomatoes, cheese, milk, and wheat. <br />
Foods reported to release histamine directly from mast cells are uncooked egg whites, shellfish, strawberries, tomatoes, fish, chocolate, pineapple and alcohol. <br />
Foods containing histamine—Aged protein containing foods and fermented foods commonly have increased histamine levels. <br />
Foods reported to be high in histamine are fermented cheeses (e.g. Camembert, Brie, Gruyere, Cheddar, Roquefort, Parmesan), brewer's yeast, shellfish, many fin fish, canned fish, tomato, spinach, red wine (especially Chianti), beer, unpasteurized milk (e.g., cow, goat or human milk), chicken, dry pork sausage, beef sausage, ham, chocolate, fermented soy products, and all fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut.<a class="backtotop" href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#top"><br />
Back to top of page</a><br />
<h3><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8748178916383506840&postID=3781314185944545549" id="allowedrestricted" name="allowedrestricted"></a>Allowed/Restricted Foods</h3>This diet excludes all: <br />
<ul><li>foods with naturally high levels of histamine </li>
<li>fermented food </li>
<li>artificial food coloring, especially tartrazine </li>
<li>Benzoates including food sources of benzoates, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate </li>
<li>Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydoxytoluene (BHT) </li>
</ul><table border="1" bordercolor="#ff6666" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><h3 align="center"> </h3><h3 align="center">Type of Food </h3></td> <td valign="top"><h3 align="center"> </h3><h3 align="center">Foods Allowed </h3></td> <td valign="top"><h3 align="center"> </h3><h3 align="center">Foods Restricted</h3></td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"><h4>Milk and dairy</h4></td> <td valign="top">Plain milk<br />
Ricotta cheese </td> <td valign="top">All prepared dairy products made with restricted ingredients<br />
All cheese <br />
All yogurt <br />
Buttermilk </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h4>Breads and cereals </h4></td> <td>Any pure unbleached grain or flour <br />
Any plain fresh bread, buns, biscuits, pizza dough with allowed ingredients <br />
Homemade or purchased baked cookies, pies etc made with allowed ingredients </td> <td>Products made with: <br />
<ul><li> Anise </li>
<li> Artificial colors </li>
<li> Artificial flavors </li>
<li> Bleached flour </li>
<li> Cheese </li>
<li> Chocolate </li>
<li> Cinnamon </li>
<li> Cloves </li>
<li> Cocoa </li>
<li> Margarine </li>
<li> Preservatives </li>
<li> Restricted fruits </li>
<li> Some jams, jellies </li>
<li> Any food made with or cooked in oils with hydrolyzed lecithin, BHA, BHT </li>
<li> Commercial pie, pastry, and fillings </li>
<li> Baking mixes </li>
<li> Dry dessert mixes </li>
</ul></td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td> <br />
</td> <td>Breakfast cereals made with allowed foods, including: <br />
<ul><li> All plain grains </li>
<li> Plain oats and oatmeal </li>
<li> Plain cream of wheat </li>
<li> Puffed rice and wheat </li>
</ul>Plain crackers with allowed ingredients: <br />
<ul><li> Grissol Melba toast </li>
<li> RyVita Rye Krisp </li>
<li> Wasa light or golden crackers </li>
</ul></td> <td>All others </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td></td> <td>Plain pasta </td> <td>All packaged rice and pasta meals </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Vegetables</h3></td> <td>All pure fresh and frozen vegetables and juices except those listed </td> <td>Eggplant <br />
Pumpkin <br />
Sauerkraut <br />
Spinach <br />
Tomato and all tomato products <br />
All vegetables prepared with restricted ingredients </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Fruits</h3></td> <td>Apple <br />
Banana <br />
Cantaloupe (rock melon) <br />
Figs <br />
Grapefruit <br />
Grapes <br />
Honeydew <br />
Kiwi <br />
Lemon <br />
Lime <br />
Mango <br />
Pear <br />
Rhubarb <br />
Watermelon <br />
Fruit dishes made with allowed ingredients </td> <td>Apricot <br />
Cherry <br />
Cranberry <br />
Currant <br />
Date <br />
Loganberry <br />
Nectarine <br />
Orange <br />
Papaya (pawpaw) <br />
Peach <br />
Pineapple <br />
Prunes <br />
Plums <br />
Raisins <br />
Raspberries <br />
Strawberries <br />
Fruit dishes, jams, juices made with restricted ingredients </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Meat, poultry and fish </h3></td> <td>All pure, freshly cooked meat or poultry </td> <td>All fish and shellfish <br />
All processed meats <br />
All leftover cooked meats </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Eggs </h3></td> <td>All plain, cooked egg </td> <td>All prepared with restricted ingredients <br />
Raw egg white (as in some eggnog, hollandaise sauce, milkshake) </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Legumes </h3></td> <td>All plain legumes except those listed opposite <br />
Pure peanut butter </td> <td>Soy beans <br />
Red beans </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Nuts and seeds </h3></td> <td>All plain nuts and seeds </td> <td>All with restricted ingredients </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Fats and oils </h3></td> <td>Pure butter <br />
Pure vegetable oil <br />
Homemade salad dressings with allowed ingredients <br />
Lard and meat drippings <br />
Homemade gravies </td> <td>All fats and oils with color and/or preservatives <br />
Hydrolyzed lecithin <br />
Margarine <br />
Prepared salad dressings with restricted ingredients <br />
Prepared gravies </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Spices and herbs </h3></td> <td>All fresh, frozen or dried herbs and spices except those listed opposite </td> <td>Anise <br />
Cinnamon <br />
Cloves <br />
Curry powder <br />
Hot paprika <br />
Nutmeg <br />
Seasoning packets with restricted ingredients <br />
Foods labeled "with spices"</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Sweeteners </h3><h3> </h3></td> <td>Sugar<br />
Honey<br />
Molasses <br />
Maple syrup<br />
Corn syrup <br />
Icing sugar <br />
Pure jams, jellies, marmalades, conserves made with allowed ingredients <br />
Plain artificial sweeteners <br />
Homemade sweets with allowed ingredients </td> <td>Flavored syrups <br />
Prepared desert fillings <br />
Prepared icings, frostings <br />
Spreads with restricted ingredients <br />
Cake decorations <br />
Confectionary <br />
Commercial candies </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Miscellaneous</h3></td> <td>Baking powder <br />
Baking soda <br />
Cream of tartar <br />
Plain gelatin <br />
Homemade relishes with allowed ingredients </td> <td>All chocolate and cocoa <br />
Flavored gelatin <br />
Mincemeat <br />
Prepared relishes and olives <br />
Soy sauce <br />
Miso <br />
Commercial ketchup <br />
Gherkin pickles <br />
Most commercial salad dressing </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td><h3>Beverages</h3></td> <td>Plain milk <br />
Pure juices of allowed fruits and vegetables <br />
Plain and carbonated mineral water <br />
Coffee <br />
Alcohol: plain vodka, gin, white rum</td> <td>Flavored milks <br />
Fruit juices and cocktails made with restricted ingredients <br />
All other carbonated drinks <br />
All tea <br />
All drinks with "flavor" or "spices"<br />
Beer<br />
Wine<br />
Cider <br />
All other alcoholic beverages </td> </tr>
</tbody></table><a class="backtotop" href="http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm#top">Back to top of page</a> <br />
<h3><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8748178916383506840&postID=3781314185944545549" id="Urticariadiet" name="Urticariadiet"></a>Histamine Restricted Diet for Control of Urticaria/Angioedema </h3>Do not eat the following food during the 4 week trial elimination period. <br />
<h4>Meat/Poultry/Fish </h4><ul><li> All seafood including shellfish or fin fish, fresh, frozen, smoked or canned</li>
<li>Egg (a small quantity in a baked product such as pancakes, muffins, cakes is usually tolerated)</li>
<li>Processed, smoked and fermented meats such as luncheon meat, sausage, weiner, bologna, salami, pepperoni</li>
<li>Leftover meat: eat freshly cooked meat ONLY (side note from Jackie—After meat is cooked, the histamine levels increase due to microbial action as the meat sits.) </li>
</ul><h4>Milk and Milk Products </h4><ul><li> All fermented milk products, including cheese (any milk product that is curdled rather than fermented is allowed, such as cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and panir) </li>
<li>Cheese products such as processed cheese, cheese slices, cheese spreads</li>
<li>Yogurt, buttermilk, kefir </li>
</ul><h4>Fruits and Vegetables </h4><ul><li> Orange</li>
<li>Grapefruit </li>
<li>Lemon</li>
<li>Lime</li>
<li>Cherries</li>
<li>Strawberries</li>
<li>Raspberries</li>
<li>Cranberries</li>
<li>Loganberries</li>
<li>Apricot</li>
<li>Pineapple</li>
<li>Dates</li>
<li>Raisins</li>
<li>Prunes</li>
<li>Currants</li>
<li>Relishes</li>
<li>Pickles</li>
<li>Spinach</li>
<li>Tomatoes</li>
<li>Ketchup</li>
<li>Tomato sauces </li>
</ul><h4>Food Additives </h4><ul><li> Tartrazine and other artificial food colors</li>
<li>Preservatives, esp. benzoates, sulfites and BHA, BHT </li>
</ul>Note: Many medications and vitamin pills contain these additives, especially colors. Ask the pharmacist to recommend additive-free supplements and medications. <br />
<h4>Seasonings </h4><ul><li> Cinnamon</li>
<li>Chili powder </li>
<li>Cloves </li>
<li>Anise</li>
<li>Nutmeg</li>
<li>Curry powder</li>
<li>Hot paprika (cayenne) </li>
</ul><h4>Miscellaneous </h4><ul><li> Fermented soy products</li>
<li>Fermented food</li>
<li>Tea—herbal or regular</li>
<li>Chocolate, cocoa, and cola drinks</li>
<li>Alcohol</li>
<li>Vinegar and foods containing vinegar such as pickles, relishes, ketchup, and prepared mustard </li>
</ul>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-66938247682307316662010-07-27T04:27:00.000-07:002010-07-27T04:27:23.873-07:00Art AttackSo, you can see I've posted two new pictures that have recently begun and come to fruition. No small feat for someone with blocked lower chakra's...lol. Feels GREAT to have completed these, not just conceptualized them or thought about them or dreamed about them. AND, they will be hanging this coming weekend, July 31st, at The Quality Inn in Parry Sound as part of the "new and emerging" artist's program with Seguin Arts Council.<br />
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I'd like to thank my friend Barb for encouraging me and kicking my ass to get my application in and nudging me towards committing to this event. Because I had an event to get to, I had a time frame to complete these babies in...and did. For once, I'm happy with them. Yes, I'm a bit rusty, but I did it.<br />
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I'd like to thank my Life Coach, David, for encouraging me to explore this side of my creativity, for his guidance and the way that our chats move me to action.<br />
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I'd like to thank my brother Simon and my husband Antony for buying me art supplies over the past decade HOPING I would get off my ass and use them. I am.<br />
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And I'd like to thank the Universe/God for being my co-Creator.Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8748178916383506840.post-23234052534906463762010-07-27T04:16:00.001-07:002010-07-27T04:18:24.581-07:00<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TE6_9d8WaQI/AAAAAAAAANY/Hf8evXAA-Ds/s1600/Chakrafishal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hRjjEKctjns/TE6_9d8WaQI/AAAAAAAAANY/Hf8evXAA-Ds/s400/Chakrafishal.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Chakrafishal"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Gypsy Princessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10895474823958002955noreply@blogger.com0