Showing posts with label cancer diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer diet. Show all posts

Monday, February 9, 2015

Hard

Well, the last two weeks have pretty rough. I'm not sleeping well, I've been vomiting again, my pulse spikes way up if I try to do anything, and then last night I bled again. I haven't bled since October, but there it was, plain as day in the toilet. My blood levels are already very low. I can't afford to lose any more blood. And I don't want to go through any more blood transfusions if I can help it.

Noodles are about the only thing that settles good in my stomach, so I've been eating lots of frozen fettuccine alfredo, and today added macaroni and cheese to the mix. Plus I'm on a weird schedule, where I eat some fruit around 8am, noodles around 10am, then supper around 4pm. My digestive system moves rather slow, so I like eating supper early because I'm less likely to throw up any food later at night.

Other than all this, my mind is good and strong, my spirit is strong, it's just my body that is weak. I just hate being unable to do things. Standing for too long zaps my energy, so I can't cook or wash dishes. I can fold clothes if I'm sitting down. Whatever I'm doing, I have to stop and rest every minute or two, because my high heart rate makes me so out of breath.

Everything is just so hard for me, and it's difficult for me to deal with. I wish I had a woman to talk to. But I can't complain. The guys do their best to take care of me.

Well, tomorrow is a new day.

My love to all!


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Diet Update

In going over my previous posts, I realized the need for an update regarding my diet. The vegetarian journey began on July 12th. Within 2 weeks, I stopped eating even Salmon & eggs. Not long after, I also stopped drinking milk. So, I've been on a vegetarian diet for approximately a month, and a semi-vegetarian diet for about 7 weeks.

Since the diet change on July 12th, I've lost 20 pounds. The only exercise I get is through my day-to-day activities and the occasional manual labor, due to my limited strength. It's very important that I listen to my body, and rest when I need to. But I do try to stay as active as possible.

Back to the diet discussion, I would be a vegan, except I haven't been able to give up broths & cheese altogether. I eat very little of either, but true vegans eat zero animal fats, so in reality I'm just a serious vegetarian. In all honesty I cannot say I will never eat meat again, but I really don't miss it. Occasionally I get a hankering for some good venison, but it's pretty fleeting. If I ever do go back to eating meat, it will likely only be seldom, and only venison or fish I catch myself, from a water source I can trust.

Before all of this, I didn't want to know about our food sources - I felt that it was better not to know. Oh, how wrong I was! Now I want to know the truth about everything! And what I have found has caused me to cease buying ALL meat & fish from the grocery store. It is not my intention to start a debate about our food supply; however, in my opinion, almost everything we eat is tainted in some way. I prefer to just stick with fruits, veggies, & nuts. I want to eat food in the most natural state possible. When I go to the grocery store, I do my best to ensure I have very few items that are "processed" (meaning, in a box, can, jar, carton, or bag). And I am sure to read the ingredients in any processed items I buy. It sounds difficult, but after a little practice, it gets much easier.

The beautiful part about eating a vegetarian diet, is that you can eat all the fruits & veggies you want, without having to count calories. Of course, I have to limit my fruit intake to keep my blood sugar low, but I usually only eat fruit for breakfast. Each week I get something different, so there's always lots of variety in my diet.

I've also continued to eat spelt or kamut bread, homemade by a lady at the local farmer's market. She grinds the grains fresh, and bakes them the day before market. SO delicious! And so healthy. I no longer eat sandwiches, so I only ever eat one piece at a time, and I eat no more than 2 per day. Some days I don't eat any bread.

Also, my hemoglobin levels are finally rising. My last blood test came back at a 10.6! It's supposed to be 12, but it was 8 after I had surgery, so it's really improved.

The only issue I experience is light-headedness if I go too long without eating. Due to my very low sugar intake, I have to eat every 1-2 hours. So I snack all day on all kinds of healthy stuff: organic granola, raw almonds, real almond butter on toast or rice cake, apples, raw broccoli/carrots/cauliflower, apricot kernels (only 7 at a time), etc.

Suppers can consist of a spinach salad, red beans & rice, steamed vegetables, baked vegetables, vegetable soup, stir-fry, veggie spaghetti with spinach noodles, etc.

I'm very eager & excited to see the effects of this diet long-term.