Lesa

It really hit me, to understand about different foods. Because two weeks go I felt back normal then my body felt funny, heavy and numb so I realized it is worth to eat the right diet foods. So, I do this again  (it is not too late )  will go back to strict food diet again.  🙂  Don read the book about healing MS  and he was helping me a lot too to understand and be patient and will take few months to get improve maybe more  until one year – it depends for people like me.

Lesa

I received this email from one of my fellow MS friends, and it is interesting to read her comments about food. Kind of renews my faith in eating organic, healthy foods. I think after other testimonials, I will still continue on my path of research — always trying to find what is the best source of treatment and relief for my MS.

Be well and strong!

As we all know from reading my blogs, that I have always felt and expressed my opinon strongly about food playing such a huge role in our health. Some have disagreed with  me even though this thoughts are my opinions and some have agreed with me – even people who do not suffer from MS but from other issues such as thyroid, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease just to name a few agree with me 100%.

After a few blogs later, some have expressed their opinions strongly to me about what they felt about wanting to eat anything and everything even though there are studies out there that show different kinds of results. A few weeks or months go by a light bulb goes off and those people that have disagreed with me all of a sudden see that food can make a difference in how we feel everyday. 

Simple thing to remember – if we gorge on chocolate chip cookies and eat 10 or 12 of them, our body is going to react to that — we are either going to have a sugar shock or we are going to have a huge stomache. Same concept with the types of foods that we put in our bodies causes either 1 or 2 things — a food reaction or you are fine.

Figuring out what is compatiable with our bodies is a work in progress. Unfortuantely for us who have MS it is always a guessing game. I am still guessing on what is good for me or not based on my food journals that I keep. I cannot have it any other way, simply because I know deep down inside how bad my body reacts to something that I should not eat.

My favorite thing to eat is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn or green beans. I cannot eat meatloaf – it is beef – my body reacts so badly to beef I cannot function for 2 or 3 days. My other favorite thing to eat is pork roast or roast beef – same idea. I crave it but I always tell myself – do you want to walk and play outside or do you want to stay inside and watch tv and sleep for the next 2 to 3 days. My inner strength wins and I get to play and go shopping and have lunch with my friends.

I realize now we have choices. Those choices is what makes us healthy strong and happy.

I guess one of the biggest keys  in having MS is being tired all the time. Ever since I started my job, I have been more tired than before. Between a full time job and going to school full time, I crave sleep a lot more now! LOL. I applaud all those people that are out there trying to better themselves while working full time. I know now how you all feel.

Well, let’s see what’s been going on, without sounding like a mother hen, my support group meeting did not happen this month. So disapointing! We all need support and getting together once a month for 2 hours is really nothing. I know that when I get together with people I feel so much better after, its like a renewed faith, the energizer bunny almost. Having MS sucks that is the bottom line. We are restricted in so many things, and it is important to be able to get the support we need from others so that we do not become depressed and withdrawn.

Hopefully, things will pick up soon and everyone wakes up and smells the coffee – that this is important to be able to share ideas and feelings about things – it could help the next person.

Here is to hoping everyone has a great thanksgiving and that we are all healthy and full of energy!

Pam, Myra and Lesa still going strong

The group meeting went very well this past Saturday, October 18th. I’m sorry that Katie could not join us as she had prior commitments. I am hoping soon eventually she will be able to meet with us. There is so much support and information to share with each other, everyone benefits.

We have agreed on several things, The central location for the meetings will be somewhere in Howell. We will try it out for a few times, and if it does not work out we will change the meeting place. I will be doing some research to see where we can all meet in Howell.

The 2nd thing we talked about was a group name. We have officially decided that the group name is going to be “Living it Up with MS”. IT’S OFFICIAL.

Everyone agreed that the 2nd Saturday of every month 11:30 am seemed to be the best logical meeting time and date.  We also talked about maybe trying out TeaVana in Troy Michigan Somerset Mall on November 8th. We will just play it by ear and see how everyone is doing. I brought brochures for everyone to read up on. KUDO’s to Heather Wilson for going to the Somerset Mall for me and gathering all the information. Thank you Heather!

Thank you Lori Baar for providing transporation for Lesa. I am hoping that Lesa’s husband will come to one of our meetings, it is important that he shares the same thoughts and feelings Lesa is going through right now with her MS. The family support needs to be there, still working on that family unit support. Lesa had some major set backs with food issues. I think that now her family realizes that she cannot eat their food and needs to eat organic, gluten, dairy and yeast free things. Lesa shared her latest food discovery, that she cannot eat eggs. So now that makes it the 4 things she has to watch out for in her diet.

Myra was feeling so-so. Still having some major issues with tingling. She is working it out with her doctor. Hopefully they will pinpoint what exactly is the problem and what is causing the tingling.

I am doing ok other than fighting the fatigue. I have started working again. I am trying it out for 3 months to see if I can handle the full time load and school. If things get bad I will leave work and stick with school as we all know that I have waited so long, so many disapointments and years to start with school again, and I am not about to give that up.

My sister brought some really cool information to the meeting. I will post this information on another post because I want to keep it the focal point. So check out my next post after you read this one.

The Vote is In!

Schuller’s Book Store and Cafe in Okemos MI. Bookstore and cafe has very good food. Can meet there because we can look up things if needed about different topics.

If you are new to this site — please email me at pam.groth@gmail.com if you are interested in coming to the support group meeting Okemos MI. We have designated driver for those that cannot drive.

Interesting statement don’t you think?

 I recently had a conversation with someone about MS and how hard it is to figure out what causes our attacks. Is it food, is it not resting and getting proper 8 hours of sleep, is it stress? What could be the cause of our attacks when they do happen.

My opinion I think it is food and not enough rest. And please remember ….. these are just my opinions, I am not a doctor, this information is based on doing self-tests on myself and others. I know I feel like CRAP when I do not take care of myself. I push so hard to get things done, and I forget about myself.  It is as if I am trying to prove something to someone, but in reality there is nothing to prove. The work will be there tomorrow. The dirty house will be there tomorrow, if I really need help, I will ask someone to help me I am not that proud not to ask for help.

Recently worked with someone about certain foods that are affecting her ability to function properly. I kind of got a little upset because the person said “I want to prove to someone that I cannot eat cheese, it makes me very weak, now that person saw it and I proved to them I cannot have it”.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr – this is about you coping, and focusing on living everyday, not THEM!

What is to prove?   Why put your body in such a state of turmoil because you want to prove to someone that because you have MS you cannot do or eat something? The only thing that crossed my mind was after a month and half of eating the correct foods with minor setbacks, the person went out and ate something that would cause the body to become very weak and not be able to walk. I don’t get that? I know I know, I have done this too, but not to prove a point.

I am not superwoman, there are things that I cannot do. Sometimes I forget that. It is normal, because we have gone through a good part of our lives doing things for ourselves. I forgot that the other day. I fell, big time. I was carrying something into the house because I was being stupid. I should have waited for my sister to get home and I did not, I fell and put a dent in the laundry room wall. Good Going Pam!! So stupid, so I can relate to this person’s decision about eating something that causes the body to weaken and not able to walk. We have to rememeber this — People have to accept that with or without an explaination. We should not feel that we have to explain ourselves to anyone. Living with this disease is hard, why make it worse.

IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO PUT OURSELVES FIRST….. THEN EVERYTHING ELSE WILL FALL INTO PLACE

I have not written in my blog for a little while. I have been very busy with school and now I have a job. My hours are pretty filled. I visited a fellow friend this week on Tuesday who has MS like I do, and she was struggling that day. She had some Gluten Free bread and was not able to walk very well.  I checked the ingredients and found that the gluten free bread has yeast as one of the ingredients. Yeast is one of the 5 common foods that often trigger MS attacks in some people. So far, she is not able to eat any dairy or yeast at all.

Interesting tidbit of information. My sister went to a health seminar recently and discovered that the lecturer was a doctor along with 3 other doctors who have developed these vitamins and minerals and also believe that Omega Fatty Acids can help repair the damaged mylein sheath in people who have MS. I will be researching this because it sounds too good to be true!! If that was the case, why haven’t all the neurologists that we have seen tell us this???? Is it a fluke????? Well, I am no sure at the moment but will keep you posted. Interesting tidbit — he said that people who suffer from high blood pressure is missing an important mineral in their body. I wonder on a different note — if he means this — people who have MS have some sort of mineral and vitamin deficiency?? Interesting concept.

I love eggs. We are always told by our doctors that we have to be careful with eggs because it causes the cholesterol levels to shoot up. This lecturer claims that eggs are so important for people who have MS because it helps repair the damaged Mylein Sheath? Interesting!!! I am so confused right now, some books say eggs are not the proper food to eat, and this man is saying to eat 4 eggs a day.  Can you imagine? Eggs produce a good cholesterol. It is the good cholesterol that is needed to repair damaged things in our bodies from toxins that are digested daily. Will keep reading!!! I AM NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCED.

Will be heading to the Madonna Health Fair this weekend in Livonia, MI – I am hoping to gather some more info about different things as my mind is craving more knowledge.