Aloha, one and all.... we are home from the islands and had a fabulous time. Still feeling like I'm on a boat... attuned to a gentle rocking motion. We snorkeled with green sea turtles, played on a catamaran with dolphins all around, watched glowing red lava flowing into the ocean at night, floated past the stunningly gorgeous Napali coast, trekked through gorgeous vistas of waterfalls and rainbows, and just generally had a spectacular time. The best part of course was the time spent with family, and watching my mom's face light up with joy and delight every day at being able to share amazing experiences and quality time with all of us. She did really well on the trip, overall, though it was tiring for her, and all the commotion on the ship a bit confusing for her at times. But she had a blast, as did we all.
Let's be clear on one thing, though. Cruises are not conducive to one's health when it comes to eating, at least not if you have food sensitivities. There were virtually no gluten-free options (except one dessert that was a flourless chocolate torte, although of course it contained sugar), nor was anything organic, etc. Honestly, they do a pretty good job of feeding 2,000 people all day long, and hopefully they will do better in the future as people begin to make more requests for healthier food. I mean, they did have lots of fresh, tropical fruit, and a fairly good salad bar, and a couple of interesting veggie options here and there (mushroom turnovers one day, a veggie lasagna another time). So while I was fairly careful in what I ate, for some meals I pretty much threw in the towel and said, "here I go..." and ate the bread, the pasta, had a glass or two of sangria, a mai tai, a pina colada, a couple of decadent desserts (shared with Erick), a couple of orders of fries and.... I seem to have survived fairly well. Truthfully, my liver hasn't been happy since I left home 10 days ago, and I have hives coming back (clearly these are related to food, as my last two trips I have gotten the itchies, although not as bad this time).
Of course, I was "earthing" the whole time, as I spent a good amount of time snorkeling in salt water, and walking on beaches, so I'm sure that helped a lot, since my earthing pad wasn't much good on the ship. Salt water is the best conductor of all, though, so that was a built-in blessing. The ship did have a sauna and steam room, so I was able to keep up a bit with my sweat routine, which I'm sure also helped maintain some equilibrium.
I was also really good about taking my supplements, so I don't think I did any un-doable damage, but I can say for certain that the lyme bacteria definately got a vacation, too. I'm pretty sure the sugar and wheat cancelled out much effect from the salt and vitamin C. Conclusion? It was priceless time well spent, a great time was had by all, and now it is back to reality (organic foods, eating wheat-free, dairy-free, processed sugar and processed food-free), and let's hope my liver and my sore joints will soon forgive me. The reality is that I am not lyme-free yet, and the Salt/C protocol is going to be a part of my life for probably another year-ish...
Sending aloha spirit to you - which is much like the namaste': the spirit in me honors the spirit in you. Aloha is not only hello, good-bye and I love you, but I honor you: We share the same spirit and the same breath.
And Mahalo to you for keeping up with this journey of mine...
Sukie
p.s. for those on Facebook, I'll be posting some beautiful Hawaiian pics later today...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Autumn Flare
Greetings to all ~
Just a quick note before heading out the door on our trip to Hawaii.... (and YES, we are very excited!!). I wanted to note that in the literature about lyme disease it always talks about the lyme flares that happen in the spring and fall. For some reason, life-cycle-wise, these times of year encourage great activity amongst the borrelia spirochetes. I hadn't really noticed so much before, possibly because I was in such extreme pain all the time, anyway. Now, I am realizing that these past few days I have been feeling a lot of pain, as well as "movement", if you will, of the bacteria. The "movement" thing is hard to explain.... it's a sense of weakness in the bones and muscles, and an essence of motion that I've been feeling off and on for years. Kind of how I feel if I can in an elevator that drops quickly...
Anyway, as I ponder these sensations, as well as almost flu-like symptoms of aches and pains I've had for a couple of days, I am realizing it's probably the autumn lyme flare. I feel fine, otherwise. No fever or anything like that. Head is very clear. Just achey-breakey. Wonder how the borrelia will like the tropical weather of the islands? I want to be very diligent about my eating over there and stay away from sweets, so that I don't give them any encouragement to want to propogate any further than they already are. I will be keeping up with my Salt/C and supplement protocol throughout the trip, also, which will keep the critters on the run....
While we're gone I'm loaning my two earthing sheets to a couple of friends with fibromyalgia (and also taking an earthing pad along on the trip). It will be interesting to hear about whatever results they may have from using the sheets for 10 days.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving - so much to be grateful for! I am grateful for all of you for caring enough to check in with this blog to see what's happening. I hope it's helpful for you. It's been a fabulous experience for me...
Special LOVE shout-out today to RKay! xoxoxox
Much love, aloha, & see you soon,
Sukie
Just a quick note before heading out the door on our trip to Hawaii.... (and YES, we are very excited!!). I wanted to note that in the literature about lyme disease it always talks about the lyme flares that happen in the spring and fall. For some reason, life-cycle-wise, these times of year encourage great activity amongst the borrelia spirochetes. I hadn't really noticed so much before, possibly because I was in such extreme pain all the time, anyway. Now, I am realizing that these past few days I have been feeling a lot of pain, as well as "movement", if you will, of the bacteria. The "movement" thing is hard to explain.... it's a sense of weakness in the bones and muscles, and an essence of motion that I've been feeling off and on for years. Kind of how I feel if I can in an elevator that drops quickly...
Anyway, as I ponder these sensations, as well as almost flu-like symptoms of aches and pains I've had for a couple of days, I am realizing it's probably the autumn lyme flare. I feel fine, otherwise. No fever or anything like that. Head is very clear. Just achey-breakey. Wonder how the borrelia will like the tropical weather of the islands? I want to be very diligent about my eating over there and stay away from sweets, so that I don't give them any encouragement to want to propogate any further than they already are. I will be keeping up with my Salt/C and supplement protocol throughout the trip, also, which will keep the critters on the run....
While we're gone I'm loaning my two earthing sheets to a couple of friends with fibromyalgia (and also taking an earthing pad along on the trip). It will be interesting to hear about whatever results they may have from using the sheets for 10 days.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving - so much to be grateful for! I am grateful for all of you for caring enough to check in with this blog to see what's happening. I hope it's helpful for you. It's been a fabulous experience for me...
Special LOVE shout-out today to RKay! xoxoxox
Much love, aloha, & see you soon,
Sukie
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
It's all about the Herx...
Hello to you!
I've been feeling so darn good that I've gotten a bit lax on my blogging, haven't I? Well, this week I am herxing and in some pain, which reminded me to blog! The herxes these days are essentially self-imposed - meaning that I have to "up" my Salt/C intake to create a herx reaction, so on weeks when I don't have guests, travel, or major responsibilities, I ratchet up on the Salt/C so that I can herx and do more clearing of the borrelia bacteria.
What I've noticed is that the herxes, while painful, are not as severe as they used to be. Not fun still, but definately more do-able now. It never feels good to ache all over or have intense pains in your joints. This week the pain is mostly limited to my right knee (ouchhh) and the back of my neck just below the occipital ridge, and some shoulder pain. So that tells me pretty much where the critters are holed-up. Another thing I've noticed over the past few months is that generally when I start herxing, I will get little pin-head-sized red spots that will sometimes break open. Some of the literature on the Salt/C protocol postulates that these may be "exit points" for the bacteria. I have no idea if that's true, but there is some correlation between the higher doses and the phenomenon of the spots.
I continue to be grateful every day for my improving health and vitality, my wonderful, charmed life in general, including my amazing and sweet Erick, dear friends and family, beautiful island home, meaningful work and projects, and my Earthing sheet! I am so grateful for that amazingly simple little piece of fabric that helps to keep the inflammation way down. I'm including a comment here from Caroline, one of my Reiki students, who recently purchased an Earthing sheet:
While restless leg syndrome is often what sends me to bed, I no longer have the RLS while in bed. I am experiencing more clarity when I wake up in the morning. Even the morning when I woke up at 3:30 (urgh), I was clear and un-foggy. I have noticed that when I go out for my weekly shopping trips (or trips to Alderwood Mall for a play day), I am no longer exhausted at the end of the excursion. And (joy of joys!!!!) I can once again sit cross-legged. Yoga will be much easier now. And finally (or maybe not!), I'm getting all those little projects completed. I just do them. Already this sheet has more than paid for itself.
On to fun stuff: One more week until we leave for Hawaii. It'll be lovely to spend Thanksgiving with family in the tropics; we're all looking forward to that. I feel really ready for some snorkeling and hiking, and I think my body is ready to rock and roll. While I've spent time before on some of the islands, this will be an inter-island cruise, so we'll have time to sit on our deck and watch the beautiful magic of the water and Hawaiian nature pass by....then we have stops on Maui (2 days), Kauai (2 days), Hilo (1 day), and Kona (1 day), plus a couple of extra days to cavort around Oahu. Having grown up in Arizona, I always appreciate a time when I can spend my day in shorts and bare feet. My hair gets some funky waves in it from the humidity - a few years ago in Roatan my hair was so wavy I looked like a different person. And so nice that my 89-year-old mom will get to enjoy this Hawaiian interlude, as her health has been declining a bit this past year. She so deserves this special time with her loved ones in paradise.
Aloha & catch up with you again soon,
Sukie
I've been feeling so darn good that I've gotten a bit lax on my blogging, haven't I? Well, this week I am herxing and in some pain, which reminded me to blog! The herxes these days are essentially self-imposed - meaning that I have to "up" my Salt/C intake to create a herx reaction, so on weeks when I don't have guests, travel, or major responsibilities, I ratchet up on the Salt/C so that I can herx and do more clearing of the borrelia bacteria.
What I've noticed is that the herxes, while painful, are not as severe as they used to be. Not fun still, but definately more do-able now. It never feels good to ache all over or have intense pains in your joints. This week the pain is mostly limited to my right knee (ouchhh) and the back of my neck just below the occipital ridge, and some shoulder pain. So that tells me pretty much where the critters are holed-up. Another thing I've noticed over the past few months is that generally when I start herxing, I will get little pin-head-sized red spots that will sometimes break open. Some of the literature on the Salt/C protocol postulates that these may be "exit points" for the bacteria. I have no idea if that's true, but there is some correlation between the higher doses and the phenomenon of the spots.
I continue to be grateful every day for my improving health and vitality, my wonderful, charmed life in general, including my amazing and sweet Erick, dear friends and family, beautiful island home, meaningful work and projects, and my Earthing sheet! I am so grateful for that amazingly simple little piece of fabric that helps to keep the inflammation way down. I'm including a comment here from Caroline, one of my Reiki students, who recently purchased an Earthing sheet:
While restless leg syndrome is often what sends me to bed, I no longer have the RLS while in bed. I am experiencing more clarity when I wake up in the morning. Even the morning when I woke up at 3:30 (urgh), I was clear and un-foggy. I have noticed that when I go out for my weekly shopping trips (or trips to Alderwood Mall for a play day), I am no longer exhausted at the end of the excursion. And (joy of joys!!!!) I can once again sit cross-legged. Yoga will be much easier now. And finally (or maybe not!), I'm getting all those little projects completed. I just do them. Already this sheet has more than paid for itself.
On to fun stuff: One more week until we leave for Hawaii. It'll be lovely to spend Thanksgiving with family in the tropics; we're all looking forward to that. I feel really ready for some snorkeling and hiking, and I think my body is ready to rock and roll. While I've spent time before on some of the islands, this will be an inter-island cruise, so we'll have time to sit on our deck and watch the beautiful magic of the water and Hawaiian nature pass by....then we have stops on Maui (2 days), Kauai (2 days), Hilo (1 day), and Kona (1 day), plus a couple of extra days to cavort around Oahu. Having grown up in Arizona, I always appreciate a time when I can spend my day in shorts and bare feet. My hair gets some funky waves in it from the humidity - a few years ago in Roatan my hair was so wavy I looked like a different person. And so nice that my 89-year-old mom will get to enjoy this Hawaiian interlude, as her health has been declining a bit this past year. She so deserves this special time with her loved ones in paradise.
Aloha & catch up with you again soon,
Sukie
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Progress Report....
Hello to all~
Just got back from an appointment with Dr. R. She was happy to hear that I am feeling so much better, and we will start gradually reducing some of the supplements that I'm taking. She also looked at my blood under the microscope. The cells are still hanging onto each other in chains, for the most part, not quite as free-floating as I'd like to see them, which means that there is still a significant amount of inflammation in my system. The borderline anemia I had going has resolved itself without me adding supplements. There is showing some type of intestinal disturbance, and so I am going up on the probiotics.
In December I'm going to do another test for heavy metals to see how the levels are looking, and if some reduction is still necessary I'll probably do another round of chelation therapy in February. Chelation therapy is not too much fun, so I figured doing it in the dead of winter when there isn't much going on, is as good a time as any. Last time I did chelation was the autumn of 2009, and it helped reduce the mercury quite a bit, and the lead somewhat. Need to "get the lead out..."!
Soooo, slow progress continues to be made. The inflammation is getting better very gradually, and certain aspects of my blood have improved.
I've upped my Salt/C levels twice (temporarily) the last couple of weeks to induce herx reactions, knowing this is necessary to my overall healing. The herxes still aren't fun, but they don't seem to be as extreme as they once were. I get stiff and sore during herxes, but not as intensively as before. This is a GOOD THING!
For those of you who also have joint or bone issues/pain, I'm including a 9-day rejuvenation plan shared by my dear friend Shirley, who is a master energy worker and wise sage. This is information that she "downloaded" through a dream. As always, this is posted for your info; you should always check with your healthcare provider before starting any new plan.
I'm going to try this 9-day rejuvenation this month, myself, before leaving for Hawaii Thanksgiving week. See the plan below.
Enjoy & be at peace,
Sukie
NINE DAY INVITATION TO NATURE'S WELLNESS FOR BONE HEALTH
For nine days:
Oil of Cedar, 1x per day, used in one of the ways below:
Cedar neutralizes inflammation and toxins in bones, and balances alkaline levels
* Soak in warm bath w/essential oil of cedar (3 drops under running faucet)
* Steamed cloths - in water w/oil of cedar (several drops); place on joints
* Spend time amongst cedar trees with gratitude
Brown Rice w/Baby Spinach & Flax (ground seeds & oil)
* Every 2 or 3 days for 9 days...
Flax nourishes and lubricates joints with all Omega's and Vitamin B's.
Brown rice carries silicon, for formation of collagen needed for bones and connective tissue; also a god source of B6 and B1 for nourishing joints and regulating energy levels.
Spinach helps immune system and is a good source of folic acid (B9), and calcium, to strengthen bones and cellular energy.
Send Chi to joint areas with deep breaths, both morning and evening...
* Every day if possible, reach into the heart of the Earth with deep inhale, then exhale to the skies and into the body, releasing and enjoying the experience. Repeat as desired.
The above allows rejuvenation of the whole body, regulating organs and circulation. Also lubricates joints and brings an inner smile to body, mind and spirit. :-)
Just got back from an appointment with Dr. R. She was happy to hear that I am feeling so much better, and we will start gradually reducing some of the supplements that I'm taking. She also looked at my blood under the microscope. The cells are still hanging onto each other in chains, for the most part, not quite as free-floating as I'd like to see them, which means that there is still a significant amount of inflammation in my system. The borderline anemia I had going has resolved itself without me adding supplements. There is showing some type of intestinal disturbance, and so I am going up on the probiotics.
In December I'm going to do another test for heavy metals to see how the levels are looking, and if some reduction is still necessary I'll probably do another round of chelation therapy in February. Chelation therapy is not too much fun, so I figured doing it in the dead of winter when there isn't much going on, is as good a time as any. Last time I did chelation was the autumn of 2009, and it helped reduce the mercury quite a bit, and the lead somewhat. Need to "get the lead out..."!
Soooo, slow progress continues to be made. The inflammation is getting better very gradually, and certain aspects of my blood have improved.
I've upped my Salt/C levels twice (temporarily) the last couple of weeks to induce herx reactions, knowing this is necessary to my overall healing. The herxes still aren't fun, but they don't seem to be as extreme as they once were. I get stiff and sore during herxes, but not as intensively as before. This is a GOOD THING!
For those of you who also have joint or bone issues/pain, I'm including a 9-day rejuvenation plan shared by my dear friend Shirley, who is a master energy worker and wise sage. This is information that she "downloaded" through a dream. As always, this is posted for your info; you should always check with your healthcare provider before starting any new plan.
I'm going to try this 9-day rejuvenation this month, myself, before leaving for Hawaii Thanksgiving week. See the plan below.
Enjoy & be at peace,
Sukie
NINE DAY INVITATION TO NATURE'S WELLNESS FOR BONE HEALTH
For nine days:
Oil of Cedar, 1x per day, used in one of the ways below:
Cedar neutralizes inflammation and toxins in bones, and balances alkaline levels
* Soak in warm bath w/essential oil of cedar (3 drops under running faucet)
* Steamed cloths - in water w/oil of cedar (several drops); place on joints
* Spend time amongst cedar trees with gratitude
Brown Rice w/Baby Spinach & Flax (ground seeds & oil)
* Every 2 or 3 days for 9 days...
Flax nourishes and lubricates joints with all Omega's and Vitamin B's.
Brown rice carries silicon, for formation of collagen needed for bones and connective tissue; also a god source of B6 and B1 for nourishing joints and regulating energy levels.
Spinach helps immune system and is a good source of folic acid (B9), and calcium, to strengthen bones and cellular energy.
Send Chi to joint areas with deep breaths, both morning and evening...
* Every day if possible, reach into the heart of the Earth with deep inhale, then exhale to the skies and into the body, releasing and enjoying the experience. Repeat as desired.
The above allows rejuvenation of the whole body, regulating organs and circulation. Also lubricates joints and brings an inner smile to body, mind and spirit. :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)