Hello, again.

It’s been nearly a week since my last post. And that’s after posting daily for almost 5 months. I apologize for dropping off the face of the blog-earth. Here’s what’s been going on.

My father suffered a stroke on Sunday. He’s improving, but has been in ICU all week.

I met with my integrative doc on Monday to discuss tapering off of prednisone. He said now is not the time, being in the midst of a stressful family situation. He said to call him when things settle down and I could start tapering by 2mg per week.

Then yesterday (Thursday) I started feeling like my throat was closing up on me. Got really hard to swallow anything and I had a fever (103) during the night. Saw my family doc this morning, who gave me a steroid injection and told me to double up on my prednisone dosage for the next week. I’m also taking a liquid antibiotic. I have to go back in to see him tomorrow if the fever doesn’t go away. At this point, just trying to stay out of the ER. We can NOT afford that.

In the past week, aside from a small scoop of hospital potato salad (which I don’t know what was in it), I’ve stuck to my eating plan, thanks to family and friends who know what I’m supposed to eat and have helped provide me with that.

Quick photo of something my good friend (a trained chef who develops recipes for magazines!) whipped up from random ingredients in my kitchen. Gluten free noodles, über delicious sauce, and a bit of goat cheese on top.

Now, though, I’m basically on organic chicken broth and hot tea with honey. It takes all day to drink 8 ounces because it’s so painful and causes me to choke. And until this passes, I won’t be able to be there for my mom and dad while he’s in the hospital.

I’m so disappointed and confused at this turn of events. I really thought I was turning a corner on this disease and was going to start tapering off this horrid medication. For some reason, God had other plans. And instead I’m doubling the medication on top of a high dose injection.

Last Sunday morning, my family went to church together, and it was a healing service. We went up to the altar and prayed- mostly for me and my mom (she has had some serious health issues recently). I felt like God told me I was healed. Then Sunday afternoon, my dad goes to the ER for an infection in his leg, and ends up having a brain bleed while he’s there (thank God that he was able to get immediate treatment!) And now I’m not too far off where I was when I had to be hospitalized back in January. So, I’m confused. Is this a test? I want to trust God. I do trust God. And I know that His timing is perfect and I am not to rely on my own understanding. And for whatever reason, all that has happened to us this week is for good. I do trust that. I just don’t know what to do to get through it. My faith feels a little shaky for the first time since all this started 6 months ago. I’m finding that I don’t know how to pray through this. I know God knows what I need, what my family needs. I always ask for His comfort and guidance. I guess now I just settle in, keep praying, keep listening for his guidance, and try to be obedient.

Saturday

Avocado fruit bowl for breakfast. I love these. Totally customizable. Today I used apples, oranges, pumpkin seeds, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Had another birthday party this weekend (it’s that season). I really hope one day I’ll be well enough to have a piece of birthday cake at a party. I used to loveeee birthday cake. I had trail mix instead.

Came home and made this rich, delicious smoothie. Banana, kale, strawberries, raw cacao, dates, almond milk, vanilla extract, and stevia. Yum!

Had technical difficulties, so no photo of dinner- but it was brown rice pasta with homemade (oil free) marinara and a green salad with yellow cherry tomatoes and orange vinaigrette.

Have a slight headache tonight. May have gotten a bit dehydrated outside in the heat today. Drinking lots of water and rubbed a little PanAway on the back of my neck. Should wake up fine in the morning.

Friday

Scrambled eggs with spinach, goat cheese, and avocado.

Smoothie time! Waited too long to post and now I don’t remember what I put in it. I think bananas, cherries, carob, maca, and dates.

Alkalizing greens: kale, cucumber, yellow pepper, apples.

Leftover moqueca (Brazilian fish stew).

Spinach, cranberries, and goat cheese in orange vinaigrette.

Carrot-beet juice. Nice nutrient boost before bed. TMI side note- I no longer experience beeturia (red/pink urine and/or poo after consuming beets). I’d read somewhere that beeturia was a sign of weak digestion, but figured that might be bogus since pretty much everyone gets it when they eat beets or drink beet juice. Yet, I’ve noticed in the last couple of weeks that beets no longer have that effect. I’d love to think this means I’ve made improvements in my digestive system. I’ll take it as a sign I’m moving in the right direction. Not much matters if I keep flaring and I I can’t get off prednisone, but I’ll take a small win where I can get it. (And I’m not currently flaring, so… Yay- Big Win!)

Thursday

Feeling fantastic today. Got a great night’s sleep (9 1/2 hours!) and woke up energized and refreshed. This energy lasted ALL. DAY. LONG. I did not experience a single slump (which is unheard of!) When baby girl went down for her nap, I deep cleaned the bathrooms. I also mowed the front lawn as a surprise for my husband (he never looks at the blog, so it’ll still be a surprise). I’ve NEVER mowed our lawn before. EVER. Raked the leaves once last year… Anyway, I’d love to know where all this energy is coming from and how I can hold onto it.

What I ate today:

An alkalizing green juice to start the day right.

That’s a half gallon jar, so I was drinking on this all day.

After spending so much time juicing, ran out of time for breakfast before our play date. Scarfed down these crackers and pear goat cheese. And juice.

Lunch salad to counteract all the cheese and chocolate I’ve been eating today: mixed greens, chicken breast, fermented veggies, all drizzled with orange vinaigrette.

My friend served these cupcakes at our play date. Gluten free, egg free, soy free, corn free, dairy free, and sweetened with agave nectar. The texture was fantastic. Sooooo good. I ate 3.

Dinner was “cookie dough” and watermelon. The cookie dough is made from pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, medjool dates, and cinnamon. Once you blend them up enough in a food processor, they start to stick together and you can form yummy raw cookies or truffle balls. But lately I’ve just been skipping that step and eating the “dough” by the handful. (You can do this with almost any nut and dried fruit, by the way.)

And a little more cheese. I’m really making up for lost time with these goat cheeses. Should probably lay off and stick with 1 ounce a day. I read somewhere that goat’s milk (and it’s products) are actually alkalizing to the body (whereas cow’s milk makes you acidic), but I don’t understand the science behind that and I’m not sure I believe it.

Wednesday

Felt really tired today. No aches, no lesion issues (still healing, but much better), no extreme debilitating exhaustion. Just really dragging. We traveled a few hours away for a (distant) relative’s funeral, and I slept most of the 3 hours there and 3 hours back. I think my body needed a day to recharge.

Breakfast was hazelnut crackers and pear goat cheese. (Excited to be having some sort of cheese again. This was not raw cheese, which would be ideal. I did find raw goat cheddar at Whole Foods.)

Lunch was roasted beets, grapes, and watermelon eaten while on the road. I forgot to take my afternoon supplements today. Too busy sleeping, I guess.

Back home for dinner: chicken soup and greens with orange vinaigrette.

And for dessert, a few squares of orange flavored dark chocolate and a glass of goat milk. So rich.

Tuesday

Feeling good. Busy day.

Breakfast: organic eggs scrambled with grilled veggies from Sunday’s cookout.

Sweet treat smoothie: goat milk (sort of trying this out in preparation for embracing the Maker’s diet), cherries, banana, medjool dates, cocoa powder, and maca powder. Super rich. Almost couldn’t finish it because it was so sweet and filling. The goat milk made it really creamy compared to the almond milk I’m used to.

Also snacked on some roasted beets and 32 oz of coconut water.

Lunch: a smorgasbord from the buffet at Whole Foods- mashed sweet potatoes, spring mix salad with jicama and balsamic dressing, and some kind of exotic coconut soup.

Attended a seminar tonight on gastro-intestinal health. Snacked on hummus, gluten free crackers, pomegranate juice, and a fruit salad that they served as hors d’oeuvres.

Had a late, but delicious dinner of healing chicken soup.

Monday

Feelin’ good! I’m on a roll! 🙂

My poor husband is sick again, though. And I’m out of most of my good essential oils to try to treat him naturally, so off to the doctor we go for x-rays and antibiotics. (He’s pretty much banned me from putting peppermint oil on him anyway- apparently I overdid it last time and he’s traumatized.)

Here’s breakfast. Leftovers from yesterday’s cookout.

Lunch was leftover blanched collard wraps with kale salad and sunflower pâté inside.

Snacked on dark chocolate and drank goat’s milk (pasteurized) for the first time today. I’m still searching for a good source of the raw stuff, but figured I’d try this first. Also snacked on leftover raw vegan cookies from yesterday.

Made this super healing soup for the hubs. Organic whole chicken, garlic, ginger, carrots, onions, celery, turnip root, Himalayan salt, pepper, herbs from the garden, splash of red wine vinegar and filtered water to cover everything. Cooked it on the stovetop until the chicken starts to fall apart. I hate dealing with chicken bones, but they’re a really important part of what makes this soup so healing. The vinegar helps extract minerals from the bones, fortifying the soup. Once it cools, the more gelatinous, the better.

I did have some fluctuations in energy today. Got really worn out between doctor/x-rays/bloodwork trips. But it didn’t take long to recharge after getting home and eating some good, nutritious food. Husband seems to be feeling better, too. And we get an impromptu date night at the house tonight (thanks, Mom and Dad!) Much needed.

Sunday

Happy Daddy’s Day!

Feeling great. Have a busy day ahead of us with lots of family coming over for a cookout, so we got up and went to our church’s early service after having this avocado fruit bowl for breakfast. That’s banana, blueberries, and almonds sprinkled with lime juice.

Great service at church. I cry every. single. Sunday. Not sure if my pastor’s really, really good, or if I’m just at an emotional point in my life. But we’ve been going there pretty consistently for about a year now, and I’m still crying at every service. Thankful for God’s presence in that church.

Took communion at church today. Pretty sure the communion wafer had gluten. Oh well. It’s the body of Christ. How bad can it be? 😉

Came home to a lunch of chicken salad- salad. Used canned chicken with some questionable ingredients (modified food starch and some preservatives). Not the best choice, but I was rushed. Mixed in soy-free vegenaise and organic dijon mustard. Then put it on a bed of spring mix greens and sprinkled a bit of paprika overtop.

Snacked on a full serving of organic dark chocolate and a mug of warm almond milk and vanilla extract.

Dinner. Here we have mashed cauliflower with Basil, a sweet potato stuffed with avocado, sautéed onions and beet greens, grilled veggie skewers, rosemary garlic roasted root veggies (carrots, parsnips, purple potatoes), massaged kale salad with cranberries and sunflower seeds, and a collard wrap filled with raw sunflower pate and a modified version of the kale salad. Yum! I thought the collard wraps were going to be weird, but they turned out pretty tasty. Plus had a second plate of snapper and mashed cauliflower. And a plate of tropical fruit salad and raw vegan cookies for dessert. Also, drank caffeinated black tea for the first time in forever- sweetened with pomegranate juice and agave nectar.

Saturday

Feeling great this morning. Headache is completely gone. Good thing- cause I’ve got a busy day.

Pepper-egg “flower” fried in garlicky olive oil. And lightly sautéed Swiss chard from the garden with fermented veggies.

An alkalizing green juice to start the day right. Also had a ginger lemonade.

Raw vegan “cookie”: almonds, cashews, dates, vanilla extract, allspice, and ginger (I’m out of cinnamon). Making these for a big cookout we’re having tomorrow, but I ate the equivalent of about 7 of them before they made it on to the pan.

We went to a birthday party this afternoon. I wasn’t expecting to be able to eat anything there. But there was a big fruit bowl and a chicken dish that fit within the constraints of my diet. So that took care of lunch. I didn’t feel deprived at all, except for a brief moment when everyone was eating cake. I do miss cake. I hope there comes a time in the future when I’m consistently well enough to be able to have an occasional slice of birthday cake.

Dinner was spring mix greens with roasted beets and avocado, plus an orange vinaigrette. Minor tongue issues eating the greens, but they really make me feel good. I’ve said this a lot recently- but I really need to incorporate more leafy greens (preferably raw) into my diet.

And another alkalizing greenie to finish off the day.

Friday

Lesions/thrush continue to improve. I haven’t typically gotten lesions on my lips until recently. Right now I have 2 on my bottom lip. TMI gross alert: when I wake up in the morning, it’s like my lips are glued together. I have to go to the sink and slowly put water on my lips to ease them apart. If I force it, it’s pretty painful and bleeds. As gross as that sounds and as uncomfortable as it is, I’ll take lip lesions over tongue lesions any day. They’re more visible and unsightly, but don’t affect my ability to eat as much.

Breakfast: an avocado fruit bowl. Strawberries, pear, orange, lime juice, hemp seeds, and unsweetened shredded coconut.

The morning juices: alkalizing greens, spicy ginger lemonade, and a sweet beet concoction.

Had lunch at my parents’, where my dad made an awesome salad and lightly steamed veggies. Totally forgot to take a photo.

Dinner was leftover and frozen shrimp fried rice. There’s a couple of problems with this meal, but it was late and I was starving. So, I’ve incorporated eggs back into my diet now, so that wasn’t a problem. And though I haven’t officially started the Maker’s Diet yet, I intended to ease into it and avoid the “unclean” foods, which includes shellfish. I’m also not sure if I made this dish with tamari or soy sauce or bragg’s liquid aminos. So there’s some potential for gluten and soy there. I made it back in May, so I’m just not sure. Anyway, it tasted good. Hope it doesn’t set me back.

Also had a carrot juice and almond milk with dinner.

Had an odd pain in my shoulder earlier in the day. Put my last drop of PanAway on it and that helped tremendously. I’ve got to get some more of this stuff. Also, fighting off a mild headache tonight. Made an Epsom salt bath of clove and peppermint, and rubbed helichrysum, wintergreen, and peppermint on my shoulders, neck, and temples before bed. Plus drank 32 ounces of water. Advil? No, thanks. 🙂

Thursday

Had a weird feeling in the back of my throat/sinuses for most of the day. Felt kind of swollen, like I might be getting sick. It’s been there for a couple of days, but seemed worse today.

Doing a sort of modified juice cleanse for the next 3 days. The last time I did the cleanse, I lost weight. And that is NOT something I want to do. So I’ll continue to eat healthfully as usual, just incorporate the detox juices.

For breakfast, I had an alkalizing greens drink, ginger lemonade, red beet elixir, and dandelion root tea. Plus homemade granola with strawberries and almond milk.

Did a yoga class today. Relaxing and centering. Didn’t feel like much of a workout, but we’ll see if there’s any muscle soreness in the next couple of days. Sometimes yoga surprises me like that.

Lunch was navy beans with rice, greens, and chow chow. And leftover purple potatoes and Brussels sprouts, plus a pineapple carrot juice.

Dinner was an Amy’s gluten free dairy free frozen burrito. I didn’t even dress it up with fermented veggies. But I did drink another green juice with it. And celery sticks with cashew butter. And an almond milk drink with stevia, vanilla, and pie spices.

In an attempt to combat this weird sinus inflammation, I’ve been taking colloidal silver a few times a day and added extra vitamin C to my supplements. I’ve also been using a neti-pot, even though there’s really no congestion to speak of. Did it 3 times today. I have a jar of salt in the medicine cabinet to use for this purpose, and I added a drop of high quality frankincense oil to the salt. Hoping that will help boost my immune system and clear out that inflammation. I’m still feeling it tonight, but it seems better than this morning.

Wednesday

Didn’t sleep well last night (toddler issues), but still felt pretty good this morning. Been researching the Maker’s Diet, which has a lot of similarities to what I’m doing already, with some tweaks in the first phase (no grains, little fruit, limitations on types of nuts) and some exciting additions (goat’s milk and cheese, organic coffee).

I’ve eliminated gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and eggs for 3 and 1/2 weeks now. I need to make these changes to the new diet one by one so I can spot any reactions.

May as well start today. With two eggs on a bed of spring greens and avocado with orange vinaigrette. Yum. I’d really missed eggs.

Leftover frozen lentil soup for lunch. Love this stuff. This is the last of it, and lentils are allowed in the first phase of the Maker’s Diet (though other legumes are not) so I’ll be making more soon.

My mama made beans and rice with greens and chow chow from the farmer’s market for dinner. Thanks, Mom! Delish!

And a super alkalizing green juice. Gonna start a modified juice cleanse tomorrow. I’ll still be eating all my regular foods, but will also be consuming several detox juices throughout the day. Trying to detox WITHOUT losing any weight. Tricky.

Tuesday

Breakfast: avocado fruit bowl with hemp seeds.

Lunch: rosemary garlic farmhouse seed bread with daiya cheese dipped in homemade chunky marinara. Pizza craving? Crushed.

Green juice: fennel, cucumber, celery.

Peppermint and lavender from the garden made into tea, with just a smidge of honey.

Dinner: spring greens with grapes, tuna salad, and orange vinaigrette, plus purple potatoes and Brussels sprouts sautéed in garlic infused olive oil. The whole purple/green theme was completely unintentional, but delicious.

I felt alright most of the day. Maybe just a bit better than previous days. But started feeling significantly better this evening. Wonder if its all the leaves I’ve been eating. It’s really hard and time consuming to eat leaves with an injured tongue, but green leafy vegetables are great prebiotics for beneficial gut bacteria, they’re alkalizing for the body… they have to be the foundation of any healthy diet- whether you’re paleo or low carb or vegan or doing a candida cleanse- nobody ever says to cut back on greens. I’m going to focus on getting even more of them into my diet. If I can’t eat them, I’ll juice them. But as long as my tongue is in reasonably good shape, I’ll be having lots of salad in the near future.

Also, in an effort to further alkalize my body, I’m putting a couple of drops of YL peppermint oil and lemon oil under my tongue throughout the day. Gross TMI alert: oral lesions, especially the bigger ones, are basically chunks of dead, rotting flesh in your mouth. They create a prime environment for fungus (like thrush) and give you what my family calls “lesion breath”. It’s disgusting. The oils are really helping with all of that. Regular gum and mints just cover up the problem and either feed the fungus with sugar or expose me to awful artificial sweeteners. I think I’m going to start carrying peppermint oil around in my purse…

Monday

Breakfast was homemade granola with almond milk.

Lunch was this delicious salad. I’ve been really craving raw leafy greens, but they’re so hard to eat when my tongue is jacked up. There’s a lot of maneuvers and manipulations that go into chewing up lettuce. This salad was worth the effort. It took forever to eat, and it was very tiring. But it hit the spot. I felt like it was what my body needed. Spring mix, raspberries, balsamic vinegar, garlic infused olive oil, and slivered almonds.

Followed that up with a snack of natural peanut butter on a rice cake. And a glass of unsweetened almond milk with stevia, pie spices, extra clove (for the antioxidants), and vanilla extract.

Dinner was gf pasta with homemade marinara (canned tomato purée, juiced carrot pulp, garlic, onions, herbs from the garden- basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, chives), sweet potato with ghee, fermented carrots and cauliflower, and a greens with strawberries, balsamic vinegar, walnuts, and cabbage beet salad.

And juice for dessert: carrots, sweet potato, cucumber, ginger, lemon, apples. Weird mix of flavors. Sweet, spicy, and tart. Not the greatest.

Sunday

Physically, feeling about the same as yesterday. Emotionally, feeling much better. Amazing service at church today. Feel recharged and ready to keep fighting.

Also came across this statement in my devotional from Joyce Meyer: “It has been said that fear is the opposite of faith, and that is true. We can’t live in faith and fear at the same time. Fear paralyzes us and keeps us from receiving God’s promises. It keeps us from stepping out and obeying what God has called us to do.”

I’ve definitely been dealing with a little bit of fear lately. Fear that this is as well as I’m ever going to get. Fear that I’ll never be able to contribute financially again. Fear that if I push myself too hard, I’ll end up back in the hospital. I’m afraid to make commitments because of the fear of getting sick and not being able to keep them. But each of these fears is completely irrelevant in God’s bigger plan for my life. They just don’t matter. And allowing myself to focus on them just holds me back.

Breakfast was homemade granola (gluten free oats, walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, coconut oil, honey, and maple syrup) and blueberries with almond milk. And a green juice (kale, celery, fennel, apple, cucumbers).

Lunch was leftover chicken soup (the last of it 😦 ) and more of the same green juice.

Dinner was tuna salad. Canned, chunk light tuna (lower mercury than albacore) with raw sauerkraut, soy-free vegenaise, and organic Dijon mustard. I desperately wanted to put this on a big bed of leafy greens, but knew I wouldn’t be able to eat them. Need a few more days of healing for my tongue to tackle raw leaves.

My version of a milkshake. This juice tastes incredibly sweet to me, so it’s a perfect dessert/sweet treat. I should try blending it with frozen strawberries! That would be sooo good! It’s 3 beets, one HUGE carrot, a sweet potato, and a big chunk of ginger. Adding an apple would’ve made it even sweeter, but it didn’t need it.

I’ve been struggling to get in my samento and banderol treatments. They’re the herbal tinctures I take to treat Lyme. They have to be taken on an empty stomach, at least 15 minutes apart from each other, and at least 15 minutes before eating a meal. This is easy to do in the morning, but I’m supposed to do it twice a day, and I forget to time it correctly. I’ve usually just eaten or am sitting down to eat when I think of it. I’ve also been trying to take L-glutamine to heal my leaky gut, but it also has to be taken on an empty stomach. I know it’s possible to get all these supplements in during the day, I just need a better system for taking them correctly. I did get in 2 servings of L-glutamine today. Mixed it in pomegranate juice. That’s motivation to remember to take it- it’s the only way I’d allow myself such a sweet, processed juice.

Took my end-of-day probiotics with a few watermelon slices. I’m currently taking 3 high potency probiotic capsules and 3 probiotic HSO (homeostatic soil organisms) tablets. Since I’m still taking nystatin and other herbal antifungals (grapeseed extract, oregano oil) during the day (even though it doesn’t appear to be working) I can only take the probiotics before bed. The antifungals would kill off the probiotics before they got a chance to colonize.

Saturday

Totally struggling to stay positive right now. And it just seems ridiculous because I’m not even that sick. This flare is pretty minor. But I guess I had gotten excited that I was seeing progress, so I wasn’t mentally prepared for this setback.

Physically, I’m about the same today as yesterday. But emotionally, I’m dragging. I’ve been so focused, and working so hard, and my family has made so many sacrifices to help me get well. What if this doesn’t work? Am I doing something wrong? Or am I just being impatient? I’m so glad tomorrow’s Sunday. I need some church!

I had two slices of sandwich bread (gluten, egg, dairy, soy, and corn free) with ghee for breakfast.

And juiced half a fennel bulb with fronds, 5 big cucumbers, celery, 2 green apples, and kale. That’s a half gallon jar. Drank all of it throughout the day.

Lunch was leftover chicken soup and lemongrass tea (from the garden).

Dinner was sautéed sweet potatoes with spinach and garlic, fermented carrots and cauliflower, cabbage and beet salad (jarred), and rosemary garlic seed bread with olive oil.

And a smoothie for dessert. Frozen cherries and mango, banana, 3 dates, almond milk, hemp protein powder, and maca powder. Very rich and sweet.

Friday

Feeling significantly better today. Not great, but better. No extreme exhaustion today. Just mildly tired. I can deal with that. 🙂

Breakfast was homemade granola with berries and almond milk.

Lunch was leftover baked spaghetti.

And a detoxifying juice- 3 beets, 1 ginormous carrot, 2 apples, and a lemon. So sweet and delicious. Beets are great for detoxing the blood and lemon is very alkalizing.

Dinner was leftover chicken soup. Good and healing.

I also ingested some true therapeutic grade essential oils today. I use Young Living oils for this purpose. I know doTerra is another good brand. Most oils will say they’re therapeutic grade, but that they’re not for internal use. DON’T INGEST THOSE OILS! They have impurities that can cause reactions, so they also need to be diluted with a carrier oil before applying to the skin. Anyway, YL oils are very pure, so many can be taken orally, depending on the properties of the specific oil. I put a few drops of lavender, frankincense, and Thieves (a blend) under my tongue at various times throughout the day. Hoping this will boost my immune system and help combat the thrush on my tongue. Plus help the lesions heal faster.

Thursday

Woke up with a pretty swollen lip and tongue. We’re having tropical storm weather. Totally matches my mood and general health today: dreary.

Buckwheat cinnamon rolls for breakfast. With sweet potato “cream cheese” frosting. And a mug of ginger tea. That cheers me up a bit.

Lunch was leftover and frozen baked spaghetti (gluten free-of course) with grassfed meat sauce.

Juiced 2 of those ginormous carrots from the farmer’s market, and a chunk of ginger.

Snacked on watermelon.

And an alkalizing green juice. Kale, fennel (has natural TNF inhibitors), cucumbers, an apple, and I squeezed in lemon juice at the end. Yum!

Sent the husband to the grocery store for a whole organic chicken because I was craving comfort food. Perfect chicken soup. So healing when you add a little vinegar to the water- helps extract minerals from the bones and makes the soup much more nutritious than a soup made with store bought broth. Plus the combination of carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and fresh herbs from the garden. And Himalayan sea salt and pepper. So simple. So delicious.

So, this is the first significant flare I’ve had since starting the elimination diet. I’ve had lesions, but no fatigue. The fatigue set in yesterday afternoon, and it’s still here. I napped for over an hour this morning in my daughter’s bed while she played around me. And I fell asleep again during her actual nap time. This is after a good 8-9 hours of sleep last night. I haven’t had any major achy-ness with this one. The lesions aren’t even that bad. The one on my lip is swollen and ugly, but it doesn’t interfere much with eating, so it’s not a big deal. The one on my tongue is more of a problem, but as long as I eat on the other side of my mouth, I’m good. I do have a few “sore spots” that are uncomfortable while eating, but don’t seem like true lesions. All-in-all, the fatigue is the most debilitating with this one.

I’m really starting to think my flares may be linked to hormonal changes in my body. It would make sense, since the disease manifested its first symptoms when I was pregnant. I also think the worst flares are sometimes linked to my “cycle” if ya know what I mean. Though that is hard to track since I have an IUD and don’t have a normal period. Also, I used to have horrible night sweats regularly, but haven’t had them at all for a while. Just had my first one (though really minor- didn’t even have to change my clothes) the night before last.

I was doing so well with the elimination diet (no gluten, no soy, no eggs, no dairy, no corn) until now. I did eat crackers with dairy (butter flavor or fat or something) in them a few days ago. Not sure if that triggered the immune response, or if my body’s been fighting off this pathogen that got my family sick last week, and just finally got confused (or worn out) and started attacking my healthy “self” cells. Or if I made a mistake somewhere in my diet that triggered this inflammation.

Either way, just gotta push through and keep building a stronger foundation for good health.

Wednesday

Woke up feeling alright despite not sleeping well. Lesions were marginally worse than the previous day, but no big deal. Had granola with pears and almond milk for breakfast, then dragged baby girl out to the farmer’s market with the promise of popcorn (the kettle corn vendors give out little sample cups- she loves them!)

We got there a little late, and everything was sort of picked over. Still found some great produce, but had to stop at the grocery store for some things on the way home.

Here’s the combined bounty from both trips. Grocery store stuff on the left, farmers market stuff on the right. Check out those carrots!

I was exhausted when we got home. This is the first time in a while that I’ve felt that bone-deep fatigue. Easy lunch of stuffed grape leaves.

And a ginormous juice.

That’s a half gallon jar. I drank 6 cups of this stuff throughout the afternoon.

And ate some easy, microwaveable comfort food.

Made a new dinner for the family by mixing up leftovers: steak, rice, black bean purée- all sautéed with coconut oil and salsa verde, then topped with chopped spinach, tomatoes, and peppers.

But I was so full on juice (and really wasn’t feeling well) I couldn’t eat. I was still feeling very tired and had a headache brewing. Took an Epsom salt bath with essential oils. The pain wasn’t completely gone, but I was very relaxed and fell asleep quickly.

Tuesday

Had a little bit of a lesion outbreak that I started noticing late in the day yesterday. Two on my lip, two inside my cheeks, one on my tongue… all minor, but irritating, and seemed to be ready to grow into a major problem. I started using the dexamethasone mouthwash more regularly (I’ve been avoiding it, not wanting to disable my immune system even more than the prednisone is already, given the respiratory bug that’s been plaguing our house). But they (the lesions) seem to have calmed down today. I was a little nervous, but I think they’re going to head out before they become an issue. Whew!

Breakfast was homemade granola (from the Immune System Recovery Plan) with apples and almond milk.

Dug some stuff out of the fridge to juice with lunch.

And had the juice with leftover rosemary potatoes and a jarred, organic white cabbage and baby beet salad.

My daughter’s favorite treat when we go shopping at the health food store. She loves her some seaweed snacks. But she let me eat a few.

And MY favorite treat when we go to the health food store: kombucha.

Snacked on these and some trail mix during nap time.

And juiced this stuff. That’s a lot of ginger. Very spicy. But I want to fire up my gut and get to the next level of health before I go in to see the integrative doc at the end of this month and discuss tapering off prednisone. I’ve got to be strong and ready.

Dinner was a microwaved burrito. I topped it with fermented carrots and cauliflower. That sounds weird, but it was actually really good. So far, fermented veggies seem to work well with any savory dish that could use a little extra salty flavor. And they improve digestion of whatever you’re eating.