Learning About Our Own Bodies To Live Healthy

Today is the anniversary of the death of my mother.  She has been passed for thirteen years.  The time has gone by quickly.  I now know so much more about her health as I searched for answers as to what her medical problems were.  Perhaps if we could turn back time and we had known everything we know now, she may had a better quality life and a longer life span.

She was always a very high strung person, a type A personality.  She developed Sjorgrens disease after she had a hysterectomy and was placed on synthetic hormones until her death.  I am to believe that no one during her life time had checked her hormone levels.  Current research is showing that women that develop autoimmune diseases have imbalanced hormones.  It appears that their DHEA levels are very low.  There is a correlation that the adrenal glands are to stressed and they overproduce cortisol and the DHEA production falls.  She had classic symptoms of low progesterone and low DHEA.  There are a few reliable test to check the hormones.  Without any testing other than a RF factor which was positive and a biopsy of a salivary gland that was removed, no testing for adrenal stress or hormones was conducted.  She was placed on high doses of prednisone 100 mg per day which she was kept on for many years.  She was also diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis and Raynaud's also.

I believe that her high strung personality which was present from a young age had a bearing on the high level of anxiety she had.  She over taxed the adrenal glands and without the production of progesterone that we produce from our ovaries and adrenals she was left with no means to control her anxiety.  I also learned that people with Sjorgrens are more likely to develop Non- Hodgkin's lymphoma especially with a positive RF and Raynaud's.  I am so glad that I took upon myself to find a doctor that understood the correlation behind the unbalanced hormones. We look at our parent's health history to learn about how to take care of ourselves.

At the time of my mother's death she was on fifteen different medications.  Her own immune system was attacking her.  She had been to an oncologist that was puzzled by her out of whack blood counts.  He dismissed her and in a last ditch effort my mother went to a major cancer center.  She would never reveal the results to me and it was after she passed that we found reports that confirmed lymphoma.  At short time before her death she was diagnosed with Pyoderma gangrenosum of her legs.  Her immune system had shut down and she was in organ failure and passed away in the ICU.

I made it my mission to try and piece this all together to help others.  I went through testing that insurance companies will not pay for.  I feel that her death was a lesson that the bodys' hormonal system plays a big role in our health.  You throw off one thing in the body and you have problems.  Stress is a major factor and throwing those adrenal glands into a tisy of overproduction of adrenaline will upset the hormonal balance.

My stressful life I had a couple of years ago had stopped my production of progesterone and menopause had made it worse.  With help of a doctor that understood all this I was able to balance my hormones and rest my adrenals until they healed.  I am happy to say that I have had everything checked again this year and my adrenals are working beautifully and I been weaned off hormones.  My body is doing what it is suppose to do.  I sleep well and  I feel calm.  My anxiety has gone and when there are stressful times my body is able to cope.  It did not happen over night and has taken a lot of my own will to change my lifestyle. 

I gave up anything that I thought was causing my adrenals to over work.  I gave up caffeine and food with MSG.  I now read labels on any food that is processed and try to stay away from restaurant food that is packed with MSG and sodium.  Thank goodness I like to cook.  I have also exercised to help rid myself of stress and learned to shift my thoughts away from things that upset me.  The mind is powerful thing and your thoughts can trigger the release of adrenaline.  I had to take some supplements under the direction of a doctor to get my body back on track.  It was all well worth it.  Today I went for a yearly check up with my family doctor and all is well.   I am on no medications and not bad for an old lady LOL!

My mother's own anxiety issues could have been the very cause of the painful life she lived.  I still cringe when I think of all the medications she was put on to combat the side effects of  each of the other medications.  It was an awful death that could have possibly been averted.  More medicine is definitely not better.

Life is beautiful !!

Elizabeth:)

It's National Nurses Week

If it hadn't been for a friend posting on Facebook about National Nurses Week I would have never known.  Thank you to a friend that sent me a post to say Happy Nurses Week.  I must never forget that even though I am not out there working that I am still a nurse.   I miss those days of feeling like I had helped others even if they were stressful at times.  My life as a nurse is still being put to use as an advocate and caregiver to some special guys in my life.  They are my heroes.  I love them both and I am happy to say they are doing well. 

Thinking back over my career brought back some memories.  I have some sad memories and some very happy ones.  There are certain patients that I always remember when  I want to remind myself that compassion and the hard long days of being a nurse are well worth it.  Sometimes we connect with certain people that we never forget.  They never forget us either when we show them respect and empathy.  

On the other side of being a patient I have to say thanks to other nurses for taking good care of my loved ones and me.  One nurse that comes to mind is a nurse that took care of my husband a couple of years ago while undergoing chemotherapy.  She did not speak much English, but her compassion was expressed in her mannerisms and smile.  My husband and I had a hard time understanding her broken English, but it did not seem to matter.  Her smile and her hugs she gave us after a long day at the Cancer Center spoke louder than words.   She ended our visit with a surprise to me.  She had dropped something on the floor and as I came back up into an upright position to hand it to her, she hugged me and said, "God Bless You."  My husband and I still remember her and we hope she is doing well.  I also remember one of my husband's nurses that asked me what I did for a living.  I said I use to be a nurse and she corrected me.  She said. " You are a nurse always and don't forget it."  She was right and I am proud to say I am.

Sometimes life takes us in a different direction than what we may have expected, but we should always remember the good things we have lived for.  We should be proud if we have been able to help others and appreciate the thanks given to us.  So Happy Nurses Week to all my fellow nurses.  Our dedication to help others is worth many thanks.  

Life is beautiful !!!

Elizabeth:)