Clean Eating and Easter Candy

It’s here……Fri-YAY!

Holy Moly, the week flew by! I had such a fun week with my third graders! Of course it ended with a bang—stomach bug for me (started with strep for Mr. Pennington). Teacher germs. Gross. I do have to say, though—while I’ve had some sick days for myself due to endo symptoms, I FINALLY think I’ve built up some immunity. It only took 6 years.

I think a big part of staying healthy this year, though, came from this amazing, healthy lifestyle change that Mr. Pennington brought into our home. I’ve told you all about his dorky documentary habits and his weight loss due to his diet. And I’ve had a LOT of people ask me exactly what this “diet” is that we are on. Mostly people who haven’t seen him in awhile lay eyes on him and are in total shock and think we are hiding some fantastic secret.

We really aren’t! But I will be happy to share what we are doing to maintain this lifestyle change that even our kiddos are benefiting from. HE should really be typing this, but admittedly, he doesn’t even know where to find a comma on the keyboard, much less how to make use of the punctuation mark, and he knows his teacher wife will have a fit if he has too many errors. So, you get me. Lucky you!

I really can’t go as in depth as he could. So here are the basics…

1.         Avoid buying food in boxes, steamable bags, and cans. They’re typically full of preservatives, artificial colors, flavors and SUGAR. We strive to only eat 50 grams of sugar a day. (If I’m being honest, I happily go over that if it’s natural sugar from fruits)

2.       Avoid dairy that isn’t NonGMO and organic. Non GMO is the key here (for anything, really…not just dairy). I haven’t had a glass of milk in probably 20 years. BUT, I love my coffee creamer. I’ve recently switched to lattes with almond milk and my belly is much happier. My kids, however, still can drink that vile dairy product so we buy them strictly Non GMO organic milk and they have happier bellies too. (My oldest son has colitis so a happy belly for him is a big deal)

3.       If you can’t pronounce the ingredients….put it back on the shelf. Period.

4.       Limit your red meat intake. My hubby was a steak and potatoes kind of guy. His blood pressure was super high and his cholesterol was looking a little rough. We cut out red meat altogether and it made a huge difference. We use ground turkey, chicken and all natural pork sausage here and there.

5.       Chill out on the pastas, breads, and other starchy carbs. If you have to eat them, do so in moderation and buy Non GMO multi-grain or whole grain foods. I’m a SUCKER for starch. This one has been hardest for me, but by not eliminating it altogether like some fad diets suggest, it’s much easier on me.

6.       Don’t be a dip. Or eat a ton of it. Ketchup, barbeque sauce, mayo…all these things are pretty unhealthy and full of sugar. We use avocado in place of mayo in our tuna or chicken salad, and use salsa in place of ketchup. And mustard is actually decently healthy. Thank the Lord, because Mr. P wouldn’t be alive without it.

These are just the main things we are doing. Do we slip up and eat junk? Heck yes. Last week I ate more Cinnabon “bon bites” than I care to admit. I paid for it big time, but my taste buds were happy. Allow yourself a cheat here and there. Just be reasonable about it. Two cheats a week is the way we started. Not cheat DAYS or even really cheat meals, but just 2 cheat items (hello latte!). And let's face it....it's almost Easter. I'll be devouring a cream filled egg very soon. Fo sho.

At first it’s tricky, trust me. But the more you do it, the better you feel, and the easier things get. Even our kids tend to choose our healthier choices at the store over all the junk that’s marketed straight to them.

If you have any questions, I’m here to help! I’m sure I’ll need to ask him the answer, but…I’m here. Just ask! J

XoXo

Jessica

My Life with Endo...

Hey guys! I hope you are comfy in your sweats with a big mug of coffee and all ready to learn about, what else? My corrupted reproductive system! As I mentioned in my initial post, I am an endometriosis sufferer. Reading so many inspirational blog posts about people, like me, who are living life to its fullest with this disease is what led me to start this blog up. (Well that and I swear I really want to be a super kick-ass teacher blogger one of these days! Baby steps.) It’s a big step for me to share this story with potentially the entire world, but it’s time. I hope a young girl out there stumbles upon this and thinks “wow! That’s me! I’m not insane like all of the 27 doctors I’ve been to claim I am”. 

In the beginning…

I started having periods around age 10. I was sooo lucky to start the day before leaving for a week long church camp. For being church camp, that was a hellacious aspect of it! Like most young girls, I was mostly irregular with my cycles until I was around 13. Around that time was when the pain started each month. All through high school I’d have horrible cramping and awful periods. Such is life…so they say. (“they” can kiss my butt, because this was NOT normal!) I was able to function, go to school, work, whatever with the help of ibuprofen, but it was pretty painful. I also was no stranger to ovarian cysts. I’d find myself in pain often and every time an ultrasound was performed there’d be a cyst or four.

After High school…

Somewhere around age 19 or 20 I started having REALLY bad periods. TMI, but clots and nonstop bleeding were only the beginning. The pain was unbelievable. I would spike a fever, get dizzy, throw up. All I could manage to do was lay in bed with a heating pad. At this point I started my stint of getting gynecological opinions. Most wrote me off or suggested birth control pills (which, by the way, make Jessica one CRAZY lady!). My mom had an OB Nurse practitioner at the time that she really loved. I gave her a try. This woman actually told my mother after my visit (hello where were the hippaa laws in 2003?!) that I was a “hysterically dramatic young lady who needed to get used to being a woman”. (making yet another mental note to write that bitch a letter to explain endometriosis) This was all I ever heard. No one took me for my word.

Moving ahead…

I began having severe right sided pains one day that took my breath away. I went to an old school doctor who diagnosed me with appendicitis (no x-rays, no CT scan…just his gut feeling). I went in for an emergency appendectomy. While my appendix was a tiny big inflamed, they found the bigger problem was a big ovarian cyst on my right ovary. They removed the cyst and appendix. That was the day I was diagnosed with endometriosis. Stage 4 endometriosis. One of the worst cases my amazing surgeon had EVER seen. She told my mom that what I felt every month was likely comparable to childbirth. (Hystericcally dramatic WHAT?!)

It’s Baby Time…

The surgeon who diagnosed me cleaned out as much as she could. I had my first baby boy when I was 25. When I was 26 I had another surgery to clean things up laparoscopically. I was told to go on birth control (crazy maker) for 3 months and then try like crazy for baby number 2. Well, once you learn more about my family you’ll know that baby number 2 is a very persistent and determined little fella! I got pregnant while taking that first month of birth control. I’m unbelievably blessed to have these little boys because so many women with endo can’t conceive. I remind myself how lucky I am every time I break up a “he’s breathing on me!” fight.

Baby number 2 did not, however, have an uneventful birth. He tried escaping around 28 weeks. I ended up on bedrest (with a toddler at home!) and had him at around 35 weeks. When he was born, my uterus was so weak from endometriosis that it ruptured. I’m talking split like a banana. You’re welcome for the visual. My midwife called in doctors and surgeons and I was swept off to the OR. The only thing they could do was a hysterectomy because I had lost over half the blood in my body and they were losing me. I woke up 8 hours later in ICU and had yet to hold my precious baby boy. I was actually relieved to know they’d done the hyster and asked why on earth they left my problematic ovaries! Of course, hey had to because there was too much trauma already. Fun fact for ya…I still had a MONTHLY PERIOD after my hysterectomy. And still do.

Soccer Ball Belly….

The year I graduated college and was hired for my first teaching job, I felt like I was just getting fatter by the second. I looked 4 months pregnant and didn’t know why. Lo and behold…another ovarian cyst. This sucker was the size of a soccer ball! They took the right ovary in emergency surgery and again…cleaned up a lot of endo. They told me that there was so much scar tissue and adhesion that they couldn’t get it all. My left ovary was “glued” to my pelvic wall, hip, bowel, bladder, and who knows what else..

Doctors, and Nurses, and Kinesiologists…OH MY!

My last surgery was in 2011. Since then my pain has worsened, my stomach/GI tract has developed an assortment of awful symptoms, I have monthly bleeding (that sometimes lasts weeks), migraine headaches, vertigo, diarrhea, vomiting…you name it! I’ve been to every doctor in the area. I’ve been to Cleveland Clinic (which was a wasted trip, but it’s ok because I LOVE CLE!). The only small bit of relief I got from any of it was visiting a chiropractor who specialized in kinesiology on a regular basis. That lady was an angel sent straight from heaven…then she retired!

Almost 2 months ago I woke up feeling the worst pain I’ve ever felt. EVER. Childbirth included (and you just read how great of an experience THAT was for me). I called into school and couldn’t even do sub plans. My dad took my kids to school and my mom rushed me to the ER (thank GOD for parents who live close by). I spent my entire morning in the ER and they found nothing. As suspected. It was endometriosis flaring up. *side note-I was drinking 3-5 coffees a day the week prior. Coffee and endo don’t mix.

When I got home that day I spent HOURS searching the internet. I’d searched before a million times and never found anything new. But this time…I decided to visit the website for the Center for Endometriosis Care. I’d been to the site before, but for whatever reason didn’t’ think it was for me. My best friend told me that one of her friends had surgery there and felt it was the best move she ever made.

I decided that I had to do something. Life like this is unbearable for me, my husband, my kids….hell, even the dogs suffer when mama is in pain! I filled out all 27 pages of paperwork, wrote a personal narrative of life with this disease, rounded up all my records and paid 7 bucks to send one big ol’ envelope to Atlanta! I heard from them when they received my files, and again a few days later when the surgeon called me. He was so kind and personable. He answered all my questions before I could even ask them! Right now I am in the process of getting insurance approval and then scheduling my excision. I’m really hoping to go in April over my school’s extended Easter break.

I’m hopeful that this surgery will be what it takes to get my life back on track! Don’t get me wrong…I am one lucky lady in every other aspect of life. But endo really puts a damper on a lot of things and I will be so thankful to see it go away once and for all!!

If you’ve read all of this….you need to go refill that coffee, I’m sure! But don’t drink 5 cups if you’re an endo sufferer. It won’t end well….trust me.

Xoxo