I'm the 49 year old mother of five, wife to the Canadian, an artist and a writer.
I also happen to have lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes, and multiple food allergies.
This blog will primarily deal with these health issues, though I feel sure there will be some overlap with the other goings-on in my life, because....well.....that's how life works!
I have dealt with the symptoms of lupus since I was 15 years old, but was not diagnosed until I was 33.
There appears to be some blurring of the line between lupus and fibromyalgia, so who's to say which symptom really belongs where?
I come from a long, long (not to mention BROAD) line of diabetics---mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great aunts, cousins. It would seem that joining their ranks would be inevitable (now I question that assumption, but alas, too late). I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2000.
Bizzaro symptoms, presumably of fibromyalgia, began in 1987. I thought I was dying.
I had 3 babies under the age of 3, with a husband who worked in New York while we lived in Georgia, and no emotional support.
The symptoms would come and go over the years, and vary in intensity, move from one area to another, but in 2004, they began to progress to the point of becoming completely debilitating. I could not go upstairs in my home to my studio; I had trouble doing much of anything, and started to think I'd soon be in a wheelchair.
The food allergies appeared without warning in 2008.
Suddenly, foods I'd eaten regularly all my life threatened to kill me.
Pork, beef and dairy cause anaphylactic reactions. Gluten and sugar cause less dangerous reactions.
I've recently added corn and almonds to the list.
One year ago I was declared totally and permanently disabled.
One year ago, I started on the path to wellness.
Through this venue, I plan to share my journey---where I've been, where I am today, where I hope to be, what has worked for me, what hasn't. I know there must be others out there who are struggling with the same or similar issues, and I want so much to help them, and to offer them hope!
I know that for a while there, I thought my own situation was hopeless.
I want to offer resources, recipes, insight and encouragement....whatever I can offer to help, or generate hope.
This is a journey, and sometimes it seems slow and arduous.
I hope that you will be patient with me as I learn to be patient and loving with myself.
Welcome!
Are you ready?
