On The Road To Recovery

After starting the year with either bronchitis or pneumonia, I became a little downhearted after learning the protein in my urine increased to about 800. I was doing so well last year and had hopes of starting 2011 off healthy with my kidneys doing well and healing. That did not happen.

It took most of the year to get the protein down to 100 plus. When I received that nice bit of news, I also received some other good news; both my Creatinine and BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) hit normal levels for the first time in years. Finally, my kidneys are happy for now.

After five years of various meds – oral Cytoxan, CellCept, Cyclosporine, Prednisone, all sorts of blood pressure meds, and finally IV Cytoxan – my body is feeling like its old self again, my kidneys are happy and lupus has gone into remission. I credit something else too, looking into how diet affects the body and what I discovered was not good about the American diet.

Much of what we eat is processed, particularly if you eat out a lot. I had to wean myself off that diet and concentrate on eating more fruits and vegetables. As for meat, I decided to go with eating only organic chickens (no antibiotics and no meat soaked in beef or pork brine), grass fed beef, and lots of Omega 3 fish like Pacific Salmon or Lake Superior White fish. I also gave my Breville juicer a workout juicing lots of veggies and fruits.

It took a few months to notice the difference and it was huge. Clarity of mind, more energy, and my weight began to stabilize. I am still on fat prednisone but I can report the weight gain I once experienced with this drug is not what I’m experiencing now.

As for exercise, I had a bit of a problem with my blood glucose levels. Initially, I started out pretty high and I could not understand why that was. First, it was over 180, then over 200 and at that level, you should not exercise, particularly as hard as I was. Now, my blood glucose levels stay pretty low with occasional spikes. Again, don’t know why that is but I am constantly monitoring my blood glucose levels. On those spike days, I will not go to the gym. A little walking, perhaps, and that’s it.

It is also good to see hair on my head again. For a while, with all of the chemo, my hair just sat atop my head and did nothing. It would grow in spurts and then just break off. For the past few months it too appears to have strengthened and is pretty healthy.

Another plus has been learning to accept the things I cannot change, meaning, I’ve changed the way I see things, my outlook on life, etc. Worrying about things I cannot change is wasted energy. Reducing and managing stress was probably the most difficult lesson I had to learn throughout this journey but the lessons have been good.

So, that’s the wrap-up for now and so far, no pneumonia, bronchitis or flu. Thank God! It’s still early in the season so we’ll see. If I can get through the flu season without the flu this year, well that would be a good thing. Since my diagnosis, I’ve had the flu every year. Prior to diagnosis, I seldom caught a cold or flu. I want to win the battle this season so we’ll see.