Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Monday 5 February 2024

It's OK, It's all going to be OK



Dad always wanted to know how I was, what was happening at work, with my dog, my friend. In my younger years I hid when things were going wrong. I suffered from anxiety and depression and I never wanted to worry either of my parents. But they always intuitively knew that I struggled. But as I got older I opened up a little, age taught me that I could talk to them about some of life’s struggles. But those confessions were always ended with the statement “it’s ok, it’s all going to be ok”. I caught myself saying this to him one day in the weeks before he passed. And I realised that it was a regular statement and I looked at him and said “it will, all be ok”

 

I thought about why I always say this and it’s not to be flippant, or cover my pain, I admit at times it was to soften things so that he wouldn’t worry. But mostly I believe that everything always works out to our highest good. It’s a personal “I’ve got this” and a further recognition that there is absolutely no point getting stuck in the middle of worry. When we let go and surrender the answer or resolution usually comes.

 

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learnt the power of surrender of handing the challenge over to a higher power. When we release, we allow the answers to reveal themselves. When we hold tight and worry, we obscure the answers from our vision because the problem is blocking the view.

 

And now as I walk thru my grief, I know that even in my darkest moments that it will, all be ok. I will get thru it and all though grief will always be there it won’t conquer me. You’ve just got to let it wash through and over you.

 

And none of this is to say that you shouldn’t feel things as they happen, never disregard your feelings, it’s ok to experience them. Just don’t get stuck.

 

My Dad knew that I was the eternal optimist for a reason. I’d had dark days in the past and I’d survived to see the sunlight. The sun always comes up, it will all be ok.


Lib x


Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash


Wednesday 20 October 2021

A Journey from Mainstream to Alternative

 



This is Miss Charlie, so far she's been 14 times around the sun. I made the choice early in her life to raise her naturally as possible. And by that I mean a raw species appropriate diet, minimal chemical and vaccine exposure. Thru this journey I may have become what some people may say is a bit of a hippy. I wasn't always this way, it's been a slow evolution over my lifetime that was somewhat accelerated in the last 15 years. 

For a certain portion my life I was a meat eating, junk food consumer who smoked, drank moderately everyday and had no issue using household chemicals and weed sprays. What changed? Well these two fur children who went over the rainbow bridge before their time.



Meet Bobo and Mollie, mum and daughter, they both passed away as the result of liver disease. Mollie left first at 3 yrs 8 months old and then Bobo 2 years later 11 years 4 months. I was told after Mollie passed that lightening wouldn't strike twice  and that Bobo wasn't at risk. The vets were horribly wrong and lightening not only struck twice but 3 times in the same family. And this where my path drew me away from conventional veterinarians and on a journey towards health both in my own and my fur childs life.

When Mollie was diagnosed with liver disease in June 2005 I went on a quest for the best way to support her and I found an ebook called "Hope For Healing" It was written by a lady with first hand experience of canine liver disease and focused on healing thru diet. I purchased, downloaded and showed Mollies Vets. They read it and then told me they didn't think much of the nutritional approach as they were 'men of science'!! My first thought was well isn't nutrition the original science, aren't plants the inspirations for many medicines. Somewhat perplexed I incorporated a mix of the 2 worlds. Had I been living in the city I would have taken her straight to a naturopath, but I was stuck with what I had in my regional town and Mollie went into liver failure a few months later in September and we gave her her wings a couple of days later on September 17th 2005

Within the next 12 months I was concerned about Bobo, she showed some elevated liver enzymes on a blood test and I was told it was nothing of concern. on a further test a locum vet tested her for Addisons and it came up negative. I was then assured again that it was impossible she'd have liver disease as well. How wrong they were! I still remember the day in August 2007 when I took her to the vet after I noticed her urine was brown. On looking at her urine sample the vets faced turned a shade of grey I hadn't seen on a human before. I took her to a specialist in the city but she never came home. Bobo got her wings on 7th September 2007.  

Both girls had surgical procedures within the months before their liver disease was diagnosed. Neither had a blood test to check their liver enzymes prior to their anaesthetics. A simple blood test could have prevented the dire situations we ended up in. around the time I lost Bo it had become standard practice to test liver enzymes prior to giving anaesthetics but unfortunately my vet had't caught up on this yet.

After losing these two I no longer trusted mainstream Vets. It's taken 14 years for me to find one that I can work with but we'll get there in a minute.

And then there was Ruby, she was Mollies sister. Mollie chose me and Ruby chose my sister. Just before I lost Bobo we'd found a naturopathic vet in our town, Dr Catherine. Bobo saw her once before she passed away. And my sister started taking Ruby to her. Just after Bobo passed we tested Ruby's blood and her liver enzymes were elevated. Strike 3! fortunately we caught her early enough and with the help of Dr Catherine and beautiful care from my sister she lived another 7 years and passed away at 13 1/2.

Charlie came into my life a month after I lost Bobo. And after taking her to the vets for her puppy vaccines I soon realised that I couldn't go down the conventional path any more. I decided that she'd have her first heat before she was spayed and that I would titre test her rather than vaccinate annually. So I started taking her to Dr Catherine just after her 1st Birthday. From then I mixed Dr Catherines  guidance with a whole lot of research and here we are today. 

Based on what I'd been thru with Bobo and Mollie, I decided to raw feed, reduce toxins and not vaccinate. her first few vaccination Titres were on the higher end of the scale and at the point where Charlie let saw Dr Catherine at about 4 years old she was still covered by her original vaccinations. I recently had her Titres checked again and they haven't changed she's still fully covered and still hasn't had a vaccine since her last puppy shot. 

The decision to allow her first heat before spaying, proved to be a wise choice, I'm fairly sure it was at the suggestion of Dr Catherine, and it turns out that there has been research since that indicates that although spaying early reduces the risk of mammary cancer it also increases the risk of other cancers. Allowing sexual maturity only minimally raises the mammary cancer risk but significantly reduces the risk of other cancers. When you start researching there's a whole world of information that your vet either isn't taught or simply doesn't have the time to find.

We've recently found an amazing conventional Vet who is open to my ideas and hasn't shamed me for my hippy ways. Charlie currently has an issue with high parathyroid hormone levels and we're working together to solve the issues that come from that. Charlie has Hyper Calcemia as a result of the elevated parathyroid hormone. Parathyroid hormone is meant to increase when the body needs more calcium released into the blood. Calcium isn't just for bones, it also played a part in heart and nervous system processes, but when the levels are unnecessarily high it can damage the kidneys. So we've got her on diuretics to move the excess out and I'm trying to find how this all started. Let's just say I've learnt a lot about the parathyroid lately, but the condition is rare in dogs so there's not a lot of info out there. But at least we now have a Vet who is willing to discuss and consider what I find. 

The path from mainstream to alternative has also been reflected in my own health journey. In taking notice of nutrition for Charlie I also stated to take notice of how I was taking care of myself and new information literally kept falling in my lap. I kept finding ads for health summits, books to read and in more recent times podcasts. I became fascinated with immune health and inflammation.  And what I've learned for me applies back to Charlie. Not everything is the same but the principle of maintaining immune health and minimising inflammation are the same. And now I'm studying Human Nutrition, the information just kind of bounces back and forth between the 2 legged and 4 legged worlds. 

It's such an amazing path to be on and I'm honing in on where I want to take it. With the way the world is at the moment and what we've all been thru since March 2020 it's apparent that it's now more important than ever to find something to do that lights you up. 

I'm finding more and more every day that I want to be marching to the beat of my own drum and be home with Charlie. I'm not guaranteed how much longer I'll have her, I'm planning on at least another 5 years, and judging by the way she bosses me around and how otherwise healthy she is I'm hoping I'm right. But for now she's welcome to hog the bed every night for as long as she wants ❤️



Love always 
 
Lib and Charlie xxx



 









 

Thursday 26 November 2020

Firsts

Today was a day that I never thought that I would experience but then 2020 has been a year of things that so many of us believed we would never  experience. It's been a year of firsts for a lot of people but in many ways for all the wrong reasons.

Why was today so different for me? Well today I took my 93yr old father to his first appointment with a Radiation Oncologist! 

Now the first thing you may be thinking is "wow your dad is 93, he's pretty old". Yes he has been on this earth for 93 years but no he's not old, at least he doesn't look it. He's a very young and reasonably fit version of a 93 yr old that is except for the reason why we went to see an Oncologist.

Which leads to another first... 2 months ago Dad was admitted to hospital with a bowel obstruction. Scans were done, a tumor was found and an ileostomy was performed. I should mention that I am now a full bottle on how to change an ileostomy bag and trouble shoot issues with leakage, stool consistency and gas. And that's something else I never thought I would be saying or writing. You see it's been a very odd year. 

In my last post I mentioned that I'd been stood down from my job when my state locked down due to the pandemic and then stood back up when everything reopened. Then 2 months ago both of my parents were in hospital for different reasons and in different locations. There was a lot of driving, worry and late nights.  

At this point I am going to say we are so grateful and blessed that we live in Australia. It seems that there is a different perspective on cancer care here. Maybe it's dads age but there has been no pressure or rush to get him into treatment. After an initial panic in the emergency room 2 months ago everything seemed to slow down to a very careful and considered pace. It's like the universe opened its arms and said "I've got you, I'm carrying this. Although it's been a flurry of appointments with the Surgeon, his GP and his Health Coach (yes we got him a health coach) there's been time to consider the next steps.

But back to today... The oncologist we saw was amazing, he was lovely and very interested in my Dad and his story. He asked Dad where he grew up and dad told him a little of the story of his childhood. To which the response was "have you written this down? " Now my Dad is an awesome story teller, he's fascinating and his life and his parents lives are fascinating. It needs to be written. Thank you Mr Oncologist for suggesting this. 

But back to why we were there, it was essentially an information session. A here's what you've got, here's what we think is the best course of action, go away and talk to your GP and your family and decide what you would like to do. And start writing your story. 

On the drive home Dad and I got to pondering as to why this cancer challenge was presented to him at this point in his life. Dad's religious and he was pondering why God brought this to him now. And considered that maybe he might not know the true answer this side of heaven. I am little bit more 'A Course In Miracles' so my response was that sometimes these things are brought to us to bring about positive change or enlightenment. Maybe in this case it was for my Dad to meet the man who was to tell him to write his story. Maybe it was to meet the health coach who would set him on the path to live to 100!

Although the first few days of Dad being in hospital were stressful, we've all now settled into a state of relative calm. There is no fear or sense of worrying about what's to come. I listened to a cancer summit recently and the first this the first speaker said was "peacefulness is paramount" I'm happy to report that we are already there. 

In my last post I mentioned that I'd decided to study nutrition. After I wrote that I'd decided to leave it until next year. And then we took Dad to the health coach and then an opportunity to study online came up and I enrolled. I was inspired by Dad's coach and right when I was thinking I should just do this the right door opened and I'm on my way. I must also fess up that I'd started to think maybe I wouldn't be any good at it. But then I gave myself a pep talk and decided that I was not longer allowed to think that way and that really I could do anything I set my mind to.

I know some of you are still thinking "you got him a health coach!" umm well I have no faith in dieticians, well not the ones the hospital was offering cause I saw what was on his plate pre and post surgery with a possible cancer diagnosis and I wasn't impressed. My apologies to any dieticians out there, right or wrong these are my personal thoughts. We wanted to focus on Nutrition, Dad wanted to deal with this more holistically and Dads amazing doctor recommended the health coach. Which is kind of cool and synchronicity all in one given my desire to be a health coach. Dad's really into it and I'm loving the opportunity to observe. 

Well it's late here and I really should go as I have to take Miss Charlie to the vet tomorrow. That was another thing chucked into the mix of everything this year. 2 weeks ago Charlie got up and was staggering around like  a very drunk person. Somehow I've learnt not to panic. I considered the possible causes and called a vet. After quite an extensive appointment, which included the senior health check that was a little overdue, the conclusion was that she had a perforated ear drum. How ? I have no idea. But it got her to the vet, and I got to find out that the lump on her side that I'd been planning on getting checked but hadn't was not at all nasty. It was just a fatty lump that older dogs get. Phew!! Thank you doggy version of vertigo, I can stop worrying about the lump. 

It seems the Universe is throwing in a fair few silver linings amongst all the chaos. I may feel pummelled most days and like I just want to lock myself in a quiet room and not come out, or go to sleep and not wake up until 2021, but there's some genuinely good stuff coming out of the chaos.

Anyhoo I really just wanted to stop by and catch you up as it's been a couple of months and I'd promised myself not to leave it so long between posts again. 

I'll be back again soon with further updates and some insights that I'm learning in my nutrition course.

Jim Kwik the speed reading guy always says the best way to learn something is to teach it. So I'll share what I learn along the way.

Hopefully the chaos of 2020 starts to slow down my nervous system needs a break!

Until next time stay well and stay happy.


Love Lib and Miss Charlie XXX



Tuesday 4 August 2020

2020


2020


We haven't spoken for a few years, where did all that time go?  I've been in the background learning and growing. Sometimes work has taken over and there have been break ups, house moves, job moves and lots of smiles, laughter and sometimes tears. Life as always has at times been a roller coaster, but there have been new discoveries and lots to learn. Charlie dog is still with me, she's about to turn 13 and she has a new best friend Suzy (pictured above). Suzys' photo sums up the 2020 feeling, everything is upside down this year.....


What a ride this year has been so far! it's been both challenging and heart breaking on so many levels. As with any challenging situation there is the opportunity for growth or change, a silver lining of sorts.

The year my part of the world started with the bushfires on the east coast of Australia. There was a collective heart break and outpouring of support for those affected. Some of us were left with the determination to do better for the planet. Climate change was raised as cause of the fires and whether you believe that or not it's time to look after mother earth better. I started looking at the impacts that my life had and asking what I could up level to do my part


Then Covid hit and our lives were all turned upside down from one side of the planet to the other. The shutdowns and the decision to close businesses and borders saw myself and others stood down from work. I can only imagine how difficult it was for my employers to be faced with the situation of standing workers down. Being stood down is something I never want to experience again. Despite all logical understanding of what was happening and knowing I wasn't the only one, being kicked to the job curb was devastating and a hit to my confidence that still hasn't recovered.

This week my world has returned to pre covid work hours and although I've muddled through ok the emotional affects have continued and I'm left questioning my path and what to do next. My current job in the tourism industry no longer feels secure like it did before. I want to do something meaningful and so it's time to make steps towards my future path and I keep coming back to the same thing, studying Nutrition and becoming a Holistic Health Coach. At the moment I'm investigating courses so there's more to follow on that soon once I've made the commitment.

Why study nutrition? with all that's been happening in the world I believe we need more voices to raise awareness that we are not at the mercy of outside forces, that we have the ability to influence our own health outcome. That's not to say that there will ever be absolute immunity to anything but we can certainly raise our chances of fighting illness by making better choices for what we put on our forks and our bodies. 

The last 7 years have been a path of learning about health and healing. As a result of a few health challenges 2 1/2 years ago I made the decision to follow a 100% plant based diet. It suits me well and I feel better than I have in the years preceding. One of my goals is to better understand how to nourish and support my own body with a plant based diet and in doing so assist others with the same goal. 

My heart goes out to anyone who is still suffering a job or income loss as a result of Covid. I was lucky and have been very blessed to have bounced back into the work force so quickly, others have been less fortunate.  

For me the  silver lining of Covid is not just the new Taylor Swift album, it's the opportunity to look to the future and make plans for the new normal. What will will my life look like and what changes can I make to withstand the next storm if it comes. What will be your silver lining? 

Love Lib x









Thursday 4 June 2015

Taking It Up A Notch

I've been seriously interested in Nutrition for a few years now and one of my goals is to study online with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in the US. In the interim I'm reading and learning via books and blogs but last month I hit the jackpot via an email from Kris Carr. It contained a link to the Hay House World Summit. 

I've heard about the summit before but never fully realised what it was about. This time I followed the link and was blown away. Over the course of 4 weeks 100 interviews and several videos were released to view and listen to for free. I jumped in with both feet and listened to  Mike Dooley, Melodie Beattie, Cheryl Richardson, Louise Hay and many more. I also watched a documentary called 'Hungry for Change' which looked at the obesity epidemic and how processed foods and so called diet foods are causing not only obesity but also significant health issues in society. You'd be inclined to think that with advances in science and technology that we would all be getting healthier but this is not the case. Health simply comes down to nutrition and eating a natural diet. The calorie laden nutritionally deficient processed foods are leaving people obese and undernourished. It's little wonder why as a society were becoming sicker.

From my earlier posts you'll see that I've been on the right path for a while now but watching 'Hungry for Change' has kind of kicked it up a level for me. I've had a few months where I wasn't really caring for myself very well. I was drinking more wine than I normally would and eating a little too much sugar and processed foods, and not drinking enough water. I'm gluten intolerant so the level of processed foods I consume is much less than the average person but even with a slight increase it was showing in my skin. But more on that in a minute.

After the summit ended I wanted to know more so I bought the 'Hungry for Change' book on Kindle and started reading. I then discovered that the authors have a website called FMTV it's like Netflix for health and wellbeing. They have a 7 day trial so I signed up and watched 'Food Matters' and 'Fat Sick and Nearly Dead' 

OMG how much I've learned all ready. In the last few days I've introduced 2 things. And if you watch 'Hungry for Change' you'll hear them say if you add things in then eventually you wont want the bad stuff. If you deprive yourself it's harder to give things up. But if you add the good stuff in eventually the bad stuff just leaves.

David Wolfe suggests starting each day by drinking 1-2 litres of water before you have food or coffee. I now go to bed with a jug of water and a glass beside the bed so that as soon as I wake up I can start drinking my water. 

The other thing I'm doing is juicing again.... lots of dark leafy green vegies to give my body a regular micro nutrient boost. My juice consists of organic celery, kale, spinach, cos lettuce (romaine), rocket (arugula), parsley, coriander (cilantro), carrot, beetroot, apple and lemon. I put this all thru a cold press juicer and make enough for a couple of days. It stores really well in an airtight jar in the fridge. And I've even found a use for the pulp... I've been making raw wraps with it. I put the pulp in the thermomix with an organic zucchini and some flax meal and then spread it out onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate for a few hours. The wraps are very tasty.

This was today's lunch 

Pulp and Zucchini wrap with homemade hummus, tofu,
 baby spinach and homegrown rocket and coriander.

I was so inspired that today I went to the nursery and purchased some more coriander, parsley, coriander and kale seedlings.

Oh and after only 3 days of juicing and 2 days of drinking a litre of water first thing my skin is already looking better, and the horrid dark circles under my eyes have started to disappear.  

If you are interested in your health then I'd highly recommend either watching or reading Hungry for Change. It features some of the leaders in the health and wellness movement. I've included links above for the people I've mentioned as they are a wealth of knowledge in their individual areas.