Jennifer's Recovery Log

[Jennifer]

I actually LOVE kale - I have regular cravings for it, as it definitely has beneficial gut action when cooked well (not to mention it's full of minerals). I made borsch and chicken soup in the past month and used Kale in it - was a delicious addition. But my favorite way to eat kale is really well cooked in a little water - then strain it (yeah sorry - drinking Kale liquid is just not on my to-do list); then sauté with tomato sauce and mix in some sour cream and cheese. I actually ate this yesterday - grated cheddar and some sour cream mixed in. So tasty!!

I feel about beans the way pboy feels about kale - I mean, they are tasty and all when cooked and smothered with fat, but they just do not digest well. I do, however, really love red lentils.

They way you eat kale sounds really good, Lindsay! I have had it in soups before and it tasted fine, but like you, the juice by itself I don't personally like. I was juicing kale back in my RBTI days and I found it to be unpleasant, but I'm sure a good way around that is putting it in stews like Amazoniac suggested.

And guess what!? I finally found the Pacific brand bone broth at Whole Foods. I bought 8 cartons of it. LOL

 

[lindsay]

I actually LOVE kale - I have regular cravings for it, as it definitely has beneficial gut action when cooked well (not to mention it's full of minerals). I made borsch and chicken soup in the past month and used Kale in it - was a delicious addition. But my favorite way to eat kale is really well cooked in a little water - then strain it (yeah sorry - drinking Kale liquid is just not on my to-do list); then sauté with tomato sauce and mix in some sour cream and cheese. I actually ate this yesterday - grated cheddar and some sour cream mixed in. So tasty!!

I feel about beans the way pboy feels about kale - I mean, they are tasty and all when cooked and smothered with fat, but they just do not digest well. I do, however, really love red lentils.

They way you eat kale sounds really good, Lindsay! I have had it in soups before and it tasted fine, but like you, the juice by itself I don't personally like. I was juicing kale back in my RBTI days and I found it to be unpleasant, but I'm sure a good way around that is putting it in stews like Amazoniac suggested.

And guess what!? I finally found the Pacific brand bone broth at Whole Foods. I bought 8 cartons of it. LOL

I just ate another whole huge bowl full of kale with tomato sauce, sour cream and cheddar. It's so good, I could eat this all the time!! I was really drawn to the purple Kale this time around because it's literally such a beautiful looking green - like regular Kale and swiss chard made babies I was nervous I wouldn't like the taste, but eating it this way is pretty much fantastic. And the liquid is purple when you are finished. I drank a little bit mixed with OJ - it would have tasted better with more OJ, but I ran out sadly. You can tell the broth is super nutrient rich because if you put a spoon in it, it gets a whitish/metallic looking coat from the minerals. I think purple kale is even more nutrient rich than regular too. If you see purple Kale at your whole foods, jump on it!! It's funny how something like Kale is so repulsive raw, but so good cooked with some flavor and fats. I was thinking about the dairy addition and I don't think that it should cause a problem mixed with the kale (which might kind of carry it through?) Anyhow, it's really good - but the cheese is a necessity! I really like it with the cheddar

Glad you found the bone broth!! It's pretty good!! Also, I bought a rotisserie chicken at Wholefood recently and it made the best bone broth - I stripped the meat off and cooked the carcass with the skin for a few hours and it was the best broth I've made yet. The rotisserie really helps the flavor. I ate that soup for almost a week and it cost me about $15 to make the whole thing - maybe even less.

Anyhow, I was thinking I might save my kale broth liquid to add to soups the following day because I cook with our Poland Springs water supply and I don't want to waste it!

 

[charlie]

Jennifer just curious what NDT you are using?

I'm taking WP Thyroid, Charlie. It's the one with the fewest exipients I could find. It only contains chicory root and medium chain triglycerides from coconut. It's slightly sweet with no chalkiness to it so it dissolves pretty well under the tongue.

Well its obviously working with such a low TSH. Do you think there might be a chance you are taking too much and thats maybe why things are going right through? That happened to me one time.

 

[lindsay]

So I thought I'd log tonight because I feel really guilty when I don't. Sort of like when you start a journal and you feel like you're abusing your relationship with it if you don't write in it everyday. Then by the time you hit 50 you have a bookcase full of them. Oh the stories they could tell. I say best to use them as kindling and get rid of the evidence.

Seriously! It's like looking back and cringing at seeing photos of yourself wearing the decade's finest. I'm still questioning the MC Hammer pants and the wall of bangs. You guys remember those? In grade school, my friends all had bangs that they would spend hours curling, fluffing and then flattening the front to get that perfect bouffant wall of hair. I almost escaped that look, but six grade came and I chopped my hair. My friends told me how great my bangs looked on me. Well, that's like telling a bridesmaid in a candy pink ruffled dress that she looks great in it and that it'll never go out of style. I have a burnt orange maid of honor's dress that is hanging in my closet that disagrees. My little black lace dress is laughing at it as I write this. Bunch of liars my friends were. Hehe!

Hmm...what else can I write about? My gut still hates me, but that's nothing new. My life is seriously pathetic now. LOL Oh, I know! I'll write about my dog. Now, if I ever start writing about my 80 cats, please pray for me because I have a feeling they'll come haul me away to the happy house. I could rock the white jacket, but all the buckles would drive me crazy and then they'd never let me leave. For now, I'll write about Bee's current habits.

So he's my nighttime buddy about the size of a squeaky toy, but takes up bed space like a horse. I've been sleeping with one eye open because I'm convinced he'll eat me if I don't. Lately, he harasses me for food ALL THE TIME! He sees me as his kibbles and bits dispenser. At night, I find myself on the edge of the bed and him jammed up against me. I know exactly what he's trying to do and it's not snuggling. He's pushing me off so I'll be forced to get up and get him more food. He already wakes me at 4:30 in the morning all excited as if I just happened to wake up ready to feed him.

Okay, I exaggerate slightly! He's been a great snuggle bug. Even more snuggly since Cricket passed. Animals seem to sense when you need a little extra bit of loving on. I've been having very vivid dreams of Cricket lately and they've been really nice. No nightmares of her dying like in previous dreams of her. In them I recognize that she has passed, yet she's in front of me as real as ever. I often wonder if the deceased visit us in our dreams.

Hmm...maybe the man in the moon is bringing out the nutty in me this week. Have you checked him out? He's looking real fine tonight!

For tonight's songs...

Alison Krauss and Heart - These Dreams

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kj4DaA-xtzM

Cat Stevens - Moonshadow

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NPazGVuBXmY

You could seriously write a novel or childrens' books. The way you write is very expressive

And I LOVE Moonshadow - my hubby and I always play music to help us fall asleep at night and this week there's been lots of Cat Stevens :)

Another of my favorite lullaby favorites is Agnes Obel. Her Philharmonics album puts me to sleep every time.

 

[Jennifer]

You could seriously right a novel or childrens' books. The way you write is very expressive

And I LOVE Moonshadow - my hubby and I always play music to help us fall asleep at night and this week there's been lots of Cat Stevens :)

Another of my favorite lullaby favorites is Agnes Obel. Her Philharmonics album puts me to sleep every time.

Thank you very much for the compliment, Lindsay. I appreciate that! :)

You're all being far too kind to me, though. If you guys could start talking trash about me, preferably behind my back, but still obvious enough so I catch you, this would really make me feel much more comfortable. LOL Just joking! Love you guys!

I listened to some of Agnes Obel's Philharmonics album. You're right, Lindsay! It would be perfect to listen to at night in bed. I keep my iPod next to my pillow so I can fall asleep to music also. The only downfall with that is waking up with an earbud lodge in the ear.

So YAY! Someone else who likes Cat Stevens and Moonshadow. Mandy Moore does a great version of it that I was going to post instead, but I decided to go with the classic.

Some songs I like falling asleep to are from the Celtic Women's Lullaby album. On it is one of my most favorite songs from when I was a child, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It's a really dreamy version done in a capella and their voices are so pure. It's so beautiful.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sKXFX-xXY8c

Also, during the Christmas season, I like falling asleep to some of Rita Ford's music box collection, particularly from the album A Music Box Christmas. If you've ever gone into a Christmas shop, a lot of times you'll hear this magical, tinkling sound of music playing in the background. This is it! I use to collect music boxes when I was a little girl, like "hoarder" amounts of music boxes so I have a soft spot for that sparkly sound.

 

[Jennifer]

Jennifer just curious what NDT you are using?

I'm taking WP Thyroid, Charlie. It's the one with the fewest exipients I could find. It only contains chicory root and medium chain triglycerides from coconut. It's slightly sweet with no chalkiness to it so it dissolves pretty well under the tongue.

Well its obviously working with such a low TSH. Do you think there might be a chance you are taking too much and thats maybe why things are going right through? That happened to me one time.

Yeah, I thought about that too. I'm pretty shocked my doctor didn't have concern with my TSH given that my cholesterol is pretty low also. But I've had this gut problem and rash since before coming off the fruitarian diet so I'm thinking my TSH isn't the issue. Truth be told, I've been so sick lately and sleeping so much that I've been missing most of my dosing the majority of the week.

I really wonder now if I did catch some kind of nasty critter while hiking that possibly even caused the massive weight drop. I've been kind of small my whole life, but never did I have to eat more than 6,000 calories a day just to put on some weight. I spent a lot of time hiking in waist deep water logged trails, crossing waist deep rivers and streams so...I don't know. I'm honestly at a loss for what could be causing this and I pray that something is found in my stool test.

 

[tara]

I would have thought that stool checking for the common microcritters would a normal thing for labs to do in any city?

 

[lindsay]

Jennifer just curious what NDT you are using?

I'm taking WP Thyroid, Charlie. It's the one with the fewest exipients I could find. It only contains chicory root and medium chain triglycerides from coconut. It's slightly sweet with no chalkiness to it so it dissolves pretty well under the tongue.

Well its obviously working with such a low TSH. Do you think there might be a chance you are taking too much and thats maybe why things are going right through? That happened to me one time.

Yeah, I thought about that too. I'm pretty shocked my doctor didn't have concern with my TSH given that my cholesterol is pretty low also. But I've had this gut problem and rash since before coming off the fruitarian diet so I'm thinking my TSH isn't the issue. Truth be told, I've been so sick lately and sleeping so much that I've been missing most of my dosing the majority of the week.

I really wonder now if I did catch some kind of nasty critter while hiking that possibly even caused the massive weight drop. I've been kind of small my whole life, but never did I have to eat more than 6,000 calories a day just to put on some weight. I spent a lot of time hiking in waist deep water logged trails, crossing waist deep rivers and streams so...I don't know. I'm honestly at a loss for what could be causing this and I pray that something is found in my stool test.

I don't know if either of you two saw the thread I posted about Ox Bile, but I just recently started taking Ox Bile capsules to help with fat in the diet and it definitely helps the digestive issues caused by lack of gallbladder or gallbladder issues. Since I know you two both have issues with the gallbladder, I thought you'd want to hear about the Ox Bile. I'm going to try the olive leaf too, but Anon at Peatarian sent me the Ox Bile info. and I jumped right on that first. Things I've noticed from taking it with meals is that I'm much less "gassy" and bloated feeling. I've only been taking it about a week and a half and need to test it out with something that really gets to me - like steak or lamb. I can never digest either one of those easily.

 

[Jennifer]

I would have thought that stool checking for the common microcritters would a normal thing for labs to do in any city?

I would think so too. I never received a phone call back on Wednesday so I tried calling the office again yesterday, but they were closed. Have no clue why! So I called first thing this morning and was told that they're still trying to get ahold of the Genova rep. and I'll get a call by this evening, hopefully with the price of the test.

If they don't have the price, I'll ask about doing a thorough stool test here in town. I thought the GI Effects was suppose to be more accurate and comprehensive so that's why I've been trying to get the price to take it.

I don't know if either of you two saw the thread I posted about Ox Bile, but I just recently started taking Ox Bile capsules to help with fat in the diet and it definitely helps the digestive issues caused by lack of gallbladder or gallbladder issues. Since I know you two both have issues with the gallbladder, I thought you'd want to hear about the Ox Bile. I'm going to try the olive leaf too, but Anon at Peatarian sent me the Ox Bile info. and I jumped right on that first. Things I've noticed from taking it with meals is that I'm much less "gassy" and bloated feeling. I've only been taking it about a week and a half and need to test it out with something that really gets to me - like steak or lamb. I can never digest either one of those easily.

Oh, wow! I've never heard of taking Ox Bile. I'll look into that! Thanks for sharing, Lindsay! :)

 

[Jennifer]

So I finally received the Genova test pricing Friday evening after two weeks of calling and going to my doctors office to try and get it. I was told that they were waiting for the Genova rep. to get back to them and that they kept trying to get in contact with her. So I asked them for the rep's number, tried calling her and left a voice message. She called me back within a couple hours with the pricing. Yep! Just so darn tough to get ahold of her.

I started the test Saturday and dropped it off at FedEx today. I'm exited, but also scared. This test is the possible resolution of over six years of pure hell or $500 of hopes wasted. I think back to all the things I've tried and I'm scared that if this doesn't find the cause, I'll be out of options.

My mood has really taken a dive in the deep end, what with the blood test fiasco, jumping through hoops just to get my test results/Genova pricing and the fact that I've had to take on the diet of a breatharian. I've also misplaced my mind. I've been making lots of silly mistakes. I did laundry yesterday, got everything folded and it dawned on me I didn't use soap. I'm just really lacking some substantial food.

I see Dr. Oteri January 2 so I should have the results of the stool test by then. If I get my Christmas wish, it'll be found that all my problems stem from a parasite that has been leaching off me for years in which I'll fondly refer to as "deadbeat."

Tonight's songs...

American Honey - Lady Antebellum:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzzr7RbzUTs

I Want Crazy - Hunter Hayes:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5mV3BECsuKw

Love this version of Holding Out For A Hero:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3FnOY86v390

 

[charlie]

Saw this and thought of you, Jennifer. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-8v-_kaZ38

 

[charlie]

With music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xT4uc11uYk

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Merry Christmas Jennifer!!! I just found your log and got myself all caught up....eagerly awaiting your stool test results and the pictures you promised several pages back. I WANT PICS!!! Pics or it didn't happen, lol.

Anyways, just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying getting to know you through you log.

P.S. I know every word of Tea For the Tillerman by heart....huge cat Stevens fan since I was a child.

 

[Jennifer]

Saw this and thought of you, Jennifer. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-8v-_kaZ38

No way! It's a Jenn puppy!

She has some sick moves. I love the wiggle, hop and "scratching the record" arm action she has going on. Hilarious!

 

[Jennifer]

Merry Christmas Jennifer!!! I just found your log and got myself all caught up....eagerly awaiting your stool test results and the pictures you promised several pages back. I WANT PICS!!! Pics or it didn't happen, lol.

Anyways, just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying getting to know you through you log.

P.S. I know every word of Tea For the Tillerman by heart....huge cat Stevens fan since I was a child.

YAY, the other dancing queen found her way here! Merry Christmas, BP!

LOL That's right! I did say I would post some photos. I'll get cracking on that!

The best I could find of me at the "scary weight" was when I was about 85 pounds so we'll have to imagine me another 15 pounds lighter at my worst. I just have to get the photos of me that were taken at my cousins' weddings that same year before I lost all the weight. They're the only full body shots I can think of from around that time. When I get them I'll scan them on to the computer and post them. One of them is me in that awful orange maid of honor's dress. It's fabulous! You'll just love it!

Okay, now that I got you here, if you have some music suggestions, link away! I'll dance to all of them. I promise! :)

 

[Jennifer]

I'm sorry log for not writing in you sooner, but along with catching a nasty cold and emulating my grandmother by collecting tissues in my clothing, I've been doing a lot of thinking and reminiscing. I've been spending time over at a hiking forum, where my brother and I first caught the hiking bug, rereading my brother's trip reports of the hikes we did. Reading them, I forgot just how badass we were and quite frankly, insane. I've been trying to channel that girl again.

The comprehensive stool test really got my mind buzzing thinking about a plan of action depending on the results. I actually took the Genova's basic stool test over six years ago when I was at my lowest weight and frantically trying to put pounds on. I had forgotten that I took it because even then food was going right through me. This got me thinking back to all the tests and crazy unorthodox things I've done and the extreme amount of pain I was in prior to ever suffering the fractures. It's funny how when the major pain subsides we forget the intensity of what we went through.

I tend to forget that even a year prior to fracturing, I had torn cartilage in my chest that kept retearing every time I went to open a door or reach for something or that I spent a year sleeping sitting up on the couch because of the pain. I tend to forget the details of that day my spine collapsed. The literal snapping sounds and the feeling of crumbling as if a giant had taken his fist and with one heavy pound, flattened down my vertebrate. I tend to forget that I was sent to a chiropractor after I fractured because the doctor thought I had popped my rib out of place when in fact, it was all the unknown compression fractures shifting my ribs and causing them to interlock.

Mind you the chiropractor was a very nice guy and tried to be as gentle as possible, but just image a muscular, former college football player in his 30's and a 70 pound female with preexisting torn cartilage in her chest and unknown severe brittle bones. He lays me on a table, uses the weight of his body to press down on my ribcage and then there's a cry of tortuous pain much like what emanated from me the day my world fell apart. I tend to forget how it hurt even to sit because my body had used up almost all of my fat stores and literally cannibalized my muscles to the point I had no butt padding left.

Hehe, this makes me think of Baby Got Back, but in my case it was more like Baby Got No Back. Hmm...I wonder how that song would go "I like no butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny, when a girl walks in with an invisible waste and nothing in your face, you get..."

One of my good friends from hiking has also gone through a lot with his health ever since suffering from salmonella poisoning back around the time I got sick. He's spent weeks in the hospital this past year, had his pancreas removed, developed Chron's and though he's finally able to keep weight on, just a few days ago he mentioned he'll most likely need to have his large intestine removed in the new year. I guess I'm just tired of seeing people torn apart like rag dolls that took to many trips in the spin cycle. I mean, we're living and feeling beings. When did we become the man in the game Operation?

I guess all I can do at this point is keep moving forward just as I always have. When a doctor couldn't help me heal, but only uttered the phrase "We'll try to manage your disease" I moved on to find someone who wouldn't help me manage my disease, but heal it. From day one I have refused to just "manage" my pain. I managed 22 years of pain up until that point. I managed the sexual abuse. I managed the fear, insecurities, self-hatred and loneliness that came from it. I managed insults and humiliation. I could no more manage a hurricane, blizzard or Niagara Falls, than I could disease. Not when I've spent all this time doing the hard internal work to free myself from my past and not when I've witnessed what my body can do.

I dream of the day I no longer remember the struggle, just the reward. I keep picturing me on that mountain. I will get there!

For tonight's songs...

I listened to this one multiple times a day for the entire first two years I got hurt. If there was ever a song I'd say got me through the worst of this journey, it would be this one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kN4wswGT9Vg

And another one of their songs I love, especially in A Cappella:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ppX5MQkyeUA

 

[thebigpeatowski]

So an interesting thing happened over the past week.

After I dropped dairy from my diet, I found myself craving lemonade so I've been drinking strawberry and watermelon lemonade like crazy this past week. I really hadn't thought anything of it, but my poo is finally brown after six years of being practically every color, but blue and brown. Don't judge! You know you look at yours too!

Bile salts are what give stools their brown color so I'm quite happy with the recent color change. When I was doing milk and sugar my stools were bright yellow, aside from that week I showed no mercy and went crazy with the activated charcoal. When I was put on an antibiotic, my stools were clay/white. I started to get a little concerned after my gallbladder started acting up again a few months ago. Luckily the apple cider vinegar with meals took care of it in under a week, but my stools still stayed bright yellow. When I did RBTI, the fresh lemon was considered the most regenerative for the liver so I guess in my case, it works.

TMI ALERT, consider yerself warned: I'm curious about this quote about bile salts...I was under the impression that bile was green or yellow, not brown. I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that the brown comes from bacterial action on the slurry of food as it reaches the colon. My diarrhea will start off brownish or orangey (depending on what I've eaten), but always develops into the same bright yellow as it progresses. That would sort of explain why antibiotics can cause clay colored stool, which I have also experienced. My latest theory is that I don't have enough healthy beneficial gut flora in my colon and so as soon as my food gets to the irritated terminal ileum/cecum area it just runs right through because there aren't enough good microbes to slow it down. This is purely conjecture and speculation on my part as I really don't have a clue. Taking probiotics has never resulted in a permanent cure for me. There is no way to get the right kind of microbes in sufficient quantity to overcome the imbalance that I seem to have.

Anxiously awaiting your stool report (never in my life did I think I would be so eager to hear about someone else's poo).

In light of the beautiful snowy season and the approaching New Year....
http://youtu.be/pmSHlutX1xo

 

[Jennifer]

I'm curious about this quote about bile salts...I was under the impression that bile was green or yellow, not brown. I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that the brown comes from bacterial action on the slurry of food as it reaches the colon.

Right! It's not the bile that's brown, but the food that turns brown when it's exposed to bile and bacteria.

Here's a couple quotes from a pretty thorough site:

"If you can’t attribute your orange stool with anything you ingested, then it may be caused by a lack of exposure to bile salt. Stool starts out as green, and then turns to a yellow-orange in color before being exposed to bile and bacteria which turns the stool brown."

Yellow stools can be due to:

"A more serious problem is yellow stool resulting from malabsorption. When your body doesn’t properly absorb fats from the food you eat, the excess fat passes through your colon and into your stool, giving your stool a yellowish hue.

A parasite infection known as giardia, in which protozoans invade the intestines, results in diarrhea that is yellow in color."

http://www.puristat.com/constipation/bowelcolor.aspx

Out of curiosity, BP, were you ever checked for giardia?

But yeah, I'm really anxious to find out the results of this stool test. With so many of us dealing with major digestive issues that just don't seem to resolve despite our best peatian and non peatian efforts, I want to see if this stool test might also benefit others on here who are suffering.

And excellent choice with White Wedding. I've got a nice glisten going from dancing to it just now.

I also danced to these two:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EaZZRrWxAN8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODfe5017h4

 

[Amazoniac]

You'll be in my heart by Phil Collins. A cute one!
Time to pretend by MGMT
Homonym album by The Dissociatives

Hope you are fine Jennifer!

 

[Jennifer]

You'll be in my heart by Phil Collins. A cute one!
Time to pretend by MGMT
Homonym album by The Dissociatives

Hope you are fine Jennifer!

Thank you, Amazoniac! I'm doing okay. :)

And thank you for the music suggestions. I had a good time last night listening to them.