AutoImmune Disease Awareness
March 9, 2010
March has been named National AutoImmune Disease Awareness Month!
This is so close to my heart since I am passionate about spreading awareness. It is the reason I started writing here. We have to raise awareness and educate people. The more we bring AutoImmune Disease into our national dialogue the more attention it will get –which means funding for research and eventually finding cures and/or prevention for these terrifying diseases.
“Today, fewer than 13% of Americans can name, unaided, an autoimmune diseases.This is staggering when one considers that there are 100+ known autoimmune diseases, all of which are chronic, many life threatening, and that as a category, autoimmune diseases are one of the top 10 killers of women under the age of 65. With the designation of March as ‘National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month,’ we begin to focus national attention on this issue, and it’s long overdue,” says Ladd.
According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) here are some things we can do to spread awareness:
1. Be aware that autoimmune diseases target women; 75% of patients are women.
2. Know that autoimmune diseases tend to cluster in families. If your mother had rheumatoid arthritis and your sister had Crohn’s disease, you could be at higher risk than usual.
3. Autoimmune diseases are on the rise in the U.S. and around the world, celiac disease has tripled in the past 10 years in Minnesota alone.
4. Because of lack of early diagnosis and onset of treatment, healthcare costs for autoimmune diseases are overwhelming for patients and the healthcare system.
5. Everyone should know the facts about autoimmune disease.
Please spread the love. It can be so simple… you can feel free to share my story with one or two people that you know this month. There are so many like me who may not have a voice. So many (mostly women) who have been treated like hypochondriacs and often don’t find a diagnosis for their symptoms an average of three years after the onset of their health crisis. It NEEDS to be talked about. Let’s talk about it all month long.
Inspirations
March 4, 2010
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”
Maya Angelou
Osteopath today
February 23, 2010
Today I am off to the Osteopath. I credit him for a lot of my progress this year.
When I first started seeing the Osteopath I had never heard of this type of doctor before. I started seeing him one year ago this month and it was right after one of my many awful ischemic colitis episodes. I suspect these attacks happen from all the medication I was taking and it is basically the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I was hospitalized 13 times in 2008 alone mostly from these awful episodes. The blood vessels in my stomach contract and prevent any blood to reach the intestines causing lack of oxygen and mind bending agony as well as some other gross stuff which I won’t get into here. So basically, when I saw Dr. V for the first time my stomach was in shambles and I was incredibly underweight and weak after yet another hospitalization.
Over the past year I have seen him at least once a month (in the beginning it was once a week). I noticed how great I felt after each adjustment and since I saw him two weeks ago I’ve felt more and more amazing with each day. I really trust my Osteopath because not only does he know what he is doing (super smart dude) but he also really cares about his patients, and he knows the human body well. He is also a true natural healer, a believer that in most cases the body can and will heal itself if given the right conditions. I was immediately drawn into Osteopathy because of the holistic approach it takes to the human body. The belief that every organ must work harmoniously to create an optimal environment for health and healing makes perfect sense to me.
A treatment at the Osteopath is as simple as lying on your back for thirty to forty five minutes. There is no cracking or pulling as in Chiropractic medicine. This is completely gentle, and the doctor usually places his hands on your lower back (sacrum), back of my neck and head, face, and over my stomach. You can feel him manipulating the muscles and bones very soft and easy. There is no discomfort or pain involved. It’s basically nap time.
I am so grateful to have found a doc like Dr. V. From my experiences I know doctors like him are very hard to find in a city filled with cold ego maniac physicians. I know that with his help I will be healed and brand new. He says my disease is regressing. He says he believes I can be one hundred percent healed of my condition. And I believe him.
Today is a Good Day
February 22, 2010
I’m STILL feeling great! Lots of energy and no pain. I fight the urge to ask why… I’m just so happy to feel comfortable in my own body.
I wake up every morning and I’m so thankful, and I lie there and think to myself: wow, this is what it is like to feel ‘normal‘! This is what it is like to have a healthy body, to wake up every morning where it isn’t a question as to what you will be able to physically do today. It’s amazing because I always wonder how that feels. I forget the beautiful sensation to feel comfortable after weeks and weeks buried under bone crushing pain and exhaustion. No meds, no painkillers, it’s just me.
I can feel my body healing. All of the hard work (very hard work) I put in over these past couple of years (physically and mentally) seems to be taking hold. I am so happy I could cry. I want this to last forever. Today is a good day.
Steady
February 17, 2010
Been feeling well the past couple of days.
On the days I have energy I try to fit TONS of stuff in. Errands, fun, friends, house work, arranging bills and talking on the phone with hospitals (exhausting)… everything. Sure, I push myself to the limits doing this but I never know how long these “good” stretches will last so I want to use every single minute. My body doesn’t ache, I am not short of breath, I’m gonna keep riding this wave… (and I won’t sit here and wonder why!)
Weeeeeee
The Heart Truth
February 12, 2010
Watch the Red Dress Collection show live
February 11, 2010
Today is the day of the Red Dress Collection fashion show!
You can watch the show LIVE, it will be streaming from this link. Maybe you’ll even catch a glimpse of me. It starts at 7 pm (est) tonight.
I’ll be taking plenty of pics.
My (Happy) Ticker
February 10, 2010
The Ticker in a snowstorm
Currently Reading: The Tao of Wu
February 9, 2010
Currently Reading:
The Tao of Wu by The Rza
I love stories about people who take themselves from very bad situations and rise like a pheonix. Or stories where you’re born in the projects of Brooklyn, grow up in the projects of Staten Island, and despite many obstacles become a successful business man, rapper, producer, and music composer (just to name a few) like the Rza. He used every phase of his life as a lesson and acted accordingly. He studied under a Shaolin Monk which brings us to this book where The Rza shares his code in his seven pillars of wisdom.
I am obsessed with this magical quality that humans possess deep inside where some can turn things around for themselves. It’s something only a certain type of person taps into. When I read books like this one I wonder, what is the difference between these “certain” types and the ones who cannot go inside to dig deep and find it within themselves to live? Really live? To find a path to happiness and self love?
I read story after story about men and women who have cured and healed themselves hoping to find the answer to my questions.
I want to live many different chapters of my life while I’m on this planet. I cannot wait for the time when we look back and all of this medical stuff seems so far away that I can’t remember feeling sick or what it’s like to be scared of your body. I know it will happen, I just get impatient sometimes.
Biofeedback Therapy
February 9, 2010
I have plans to look further into therapies like Biofeedback Therapy to manage my chronic pain as opposed to painkillers and meds. I can’t go one like this forever –in pain and exhausted for about 70% of my life.
It’s been on my mind for a while now to give it a try. I found this article interesting. I am always amazed at how slow the “medical community” is on the mind body connection. It was only in very recent history that this has become an acceptable thought in the medical world.
They are finally acknowledging legitemate treatments like acupuncture, cognitive behavior therapy and bio feedback therapy as medicine! Great news. I look back and wonder what took so long? Another twenty years from now this “lag” will seem ridiculous to everyone, not just some of us.
