Apparently, I have an auto immune disease that is making my body attack itself, specifically my thyroid, which now has nodules on it.

There was really no building up to it, and I’m a blurter, so there it is.

Whathadhappenedwas…. (Yes, this is going to be long, because it is all connected.)

A few months ago my foot started hurting. Plantar Fasciitis. So I do what I always do, I turn to Google, ask my friends (and even asked a doctor) and learned some stretches and rolled things under my foot, and was on the road to recovery. Woooo Whooo!

Or so I thought.

My foot pain soon turned into hip pain. And when I say pain, I mean it felt like someone was stabbing me in my lower back if I moved a certain way. But it never was a predictable certain way. Any which way would cause pan at any moment. It caused pain to sit down. It caused pain to stand up. It caused pain to sleep. It was difficult to dress, or shower, or get in and out of my car.

I went to get massages. I tried different stretches. I was taking about 6 pills a day of any combination of Aleve/Advil/Tylenol I could stomach. I would have taken more if I wasn’t afraid of frying my liver.
It just got worse and worse. I couldn’t even walk the 3 minute walk to the beach to watch the sunrise. I couldn’t bend over to pick up my friends baby. It was starting to affect my emotions, combine that with lack of sleep: Fan.Tas.Tic.

I tried to hide it, but it was obvious to anyone who had spent any amount of time with me that I was in excruciating pain.

I didn’t want to go to a doctor who was only going to prescribe muscle relaxers or pain killers so I visited Natural Medicine Clinic.   I met with Dr. Bob for my back. Things didn’t get better right away. He was honest enough to tell me they wouldn’t. I actually think I was more sore after a few visits.

As the days and weeks went by I went from being pain-free for a few hours, to taking Aleve only at night,  to a  pain-free day,  to my back and hip being now almost all better!

So then I asked Dr. Tom about their Nutrition Services.

I filled out a boatload of paperwork and questionnaires. I took blood tests. And then we had a conversation to explain results.

I eat relatively “healthy”. I adopted a (mostly) vegetarian/vegan diet awhile back.

I work out. I walk. I do yoga. I can even survive spin class.

My vitals are consistently good and not even “just for a fat girl”. My blood pressure is excellent, so is my cholesterol, and according to traditional tests, so is my thyroid.

I couldn’t figure out why I was still not losing weight. And why I had this skin rash. And why I have this one nasty toenail that Lamisil wouldn’t even kill.

Is it because I was stressed? More lazy than I wanted to admit? Eating more unhealthy than I thought?

Nope. Antibodies. And yeast. And fungus. And all sorts of things I don’t quite understand fully yet.

Because he did a nontraditional blood test he found that even though certain levels looked normal on my physical last year, there is alot more going on that is causing a chain reaction throughout my body. Then since those levels are off he ordered an ultrasound of my thyroid. They found nodules that are thankfully smaller than would  need a biopsy.

I’ve changed my diet from being a (mostly) vegetarian/vegan-ish to following a strict Paleo diet (meat, veggies, greens, and limited fruits, nuts, and seeds. No grains, no sugar, no processed foods, no vinegar, no flour, no dairy, no alcohol,no anything other than what I just listed above.)

I’m drinking more water, and taking some recommended supplements.

On the 4th of July I said goodbye to almost all of my favorite foods/drinks. And when I say I said goodbye what I mean is I ate. Alot. It started with a bagel in the morning, and the eating went downhill from there.

I cleaned out my cabinets and cleaned the fridge. Replacing beans, rice, and quinoa with Salmon, chicken and lots of lemons and onions.

It’s been a whole two days of obedience.

I thought I wanted to punch the sample lady at Costco in the face when she was making Ghirardelli brownies. I thought I was going to have a breakdown driving past Chick-fil-A. I can’t think about it all too much because it becomes overwhelming.

Even with the daunting truth of massive change, I find myself thankful.

I am thankful for the pain in my back.  If it would not have been so severe I would have never gone into that office, or asked for help in other areas.

I am thankful for the ability to do things pain-free, which has helped me be more active even when I “don’t feel like it”.

I am thankful for supportive friends and family.

I am thankful I can walk the beach again.

I am thankful for the hope I have that this road will lead to healing.