What I learned during my Hiatus was.....

A lot! My March Hiatus was taken at the beginning of March for a month. A month turned into nearly 3 months. I have realized it was much needed and I am so glad I took this time to work on "me".
I would love to share the different paths this part of my journey has taken me on and the results thus far.
Step one was decompression therapy. I am still going once a week and it continues to be very helpful with the pain I was experiencing in my neck and spine.The changes have been amazing and I feel much stronger in these areas. Best of all I don't need continual pain medicine and neck rubs to ease the pain. I am not sure it helped with headaches as much as I had hoped and I think this therapy has done all that it is going to do for now.

I did find a new primary care doctor that I am very happy with. She was worth the 3 month wait to get in as a new patient! She took her time with me and was very understanding and receptive to how I have chosen to live my life as it pertains to my health care needs. I needed a doctor who is ok with exploring complimentary care along side of conventional care. This has worked the best for me. She is  pleased with the changes I have been making. I was also looking for a doctor who understood I want to be on as few medications as possible, pertaining to meds used for sleep, anxiety and bouts of depression. To date, most docs encourage me to stay on these with the mindset of "you have stage 4 cancer, it's ok to be on these meds".And I agree, until the person/patient feels they do not need this help anymore. Many of these meds are meant to be temporary. Unfortunately, I think we as stage 4 patients tend to be seen as "temporary" and therefore there is not a lot of concern for the long term use.

I did have labs done which showed I am deficient in B12, vitamin D and magnesium,as well as having hypothyroidism. I am taking medicine for that and B12 for now. Can only add things in one at a time.

I also received my LEAP testing results and am currently working with a dietitian.The results were quite surprising. I have allergies/sensitivities to 30 foods, with the main 3 being chicken, cows milk and rice.By removing these foods, all 30,  from your diet it allows the immune system to calm down and the body to detox.I am on my 5th week and the results have been incredible!

~ fewer headaches and migraines! The severity of both lessened quite a bit and regular Advil was able to control the last migraine. That would never work before.
~ energy is up and fatigue is down! I needed to sleep about 2 hours everyday before with a terrible sense of fatigue. If I need to rest now, it is short and I usually don't fall asleep.
~anxiety is way down!  After 5 years of continual stressors my body seemed to stay in a constant state of anxiety. It is now nearly gone and this medication has been cut in half so far!
~sleeping is better! The big change here is I am tired at the end of the day and ready for bed. Before my body was so uneasy that I couldn't sleep. I am now completely off medicine to help me sleep and just using a small dose (2 mg) of melatonin for sleep.
~Overall I have noticed clearer thinking and a calmness I  have not felt in many, many years!
This has been life-changing! I am so glad I took the time to explore the complimentary care in combination with conventional care! Physically I continue to swim, cycle and do yoga...all have been instrumental in this process.

So, I will continue on,as this will be a life-change that remains on-going, but my Hiatus for now has come to an end. I have swimming lessons booking up my summer quickly and have gone back to teaching!

I Survived!

Did you have a favorite post from the A-Z Challenge? I would love to know which one you enjoyed :) Thanks for following along!

Z is for zzzz's

The A-Z blog challenge has come to an end. I have once again enjoyed reading, writing and being a part of this challenge.Thank you to all of you who followed along, left comments and shared your blogs! With an hour and a half to spare I am now going to catch some zzzzz's!

Y is for Yin Yoga

As I have continually looked for different disciplines that help me get through the day to day as a stage 4 cancer survivor there has been one practice in particular I have come to love.
The class is called Yin Yoga. We practice holding poses for anywhere from one to five minutes. During this time your concentration should be on breathing and relaxing into the stretch or pose without having "monkey brain". Your thoughts should remain focused on your breath.
I have found the discipline of holding, sometimes difficult poses for prolonged periods of time while keeping your concentration focused has been so helpful.
I have found  my strength, flexibility and endurance have greatly improved. Not just in yoga class but in other sports as well like swimming and biking.
The mental discipline has also been incredibly helpful especially during times of tests and treatments. When  you have to lie still for long periods of time having MRI's, Pet Scans and the like done, the practice of Yoga comes in very handy to help you relax and concentrate.
I walk away every time feeling less stress and anxiety than I felt when I walked into my Yin Yoga class.

X is for X-Terra

I have always wanted to write about my "dream' car, a Nissan X-Terra for the letter X in this challenge. Just didn't have a reason other than I would love to someday have one. So, this is the story of how I almost got my X-Terra.
 As I mentioned our camping trip did not start out well. About an hour into a two hour drive we were stuck in traffic and my trusty Pathfinder, loaded with kayaks, bikes, gear and pulling a camper begins to overheat. We needed to get off the highway. We pulled off and barley make it to a Chevron station with smoke pouring out from the hood.

As we sat there stuck, I was quite impressed with the helpfulness of complete strangers when they saw we were in trouble. A few places were suggested and after two hours of sitting in the gas station parking lot we found a place that could fix it...for the next day. Hmmm.
Thankfully, our son, who will do just about anything for anyone, came to our rescue! He helped unload all the gear, hooked the camper to his truck and drove us to a nearby campground.Even though we did not get to our original destination, our vacation was saved!

As my Pathfinder was being worked on Chris and I talked about the fact that it may just be time for that X-Terra.
Two days later another of our son's drives up to pick up the Pathfinder for us. Tis great to have such wonderful sons :) It turns out it was something minor compared to what we had first thought. So, my trusty Pathfinder is back and running and I will just have to wait a bit longer for that X-Terra, which is just fine with me :)

W is for Wierd!

My husband and I love to ride bikes, mostly trail riding. However with all the "injuries" to my neck I am not supposed to ride on rough trails.
Well, we decide to go mountain biking and ride the "yellow" trail, the easy one.
It started out exciting. Getting on our bikes, heading into the forest to ride! As we approach the trail I am already asking " are you sure this is not going to be too rough for me"? Ladies, our definition of too rough and our husbands are NOT the same!

We continued on,I enjoyed a lot of the ride, complained most of it. Unfortunately my headaches don't take a vacation just because I  decide to and I had one during this ride. Rocks, stumps, twists and turns just did not make for a fun morning for me.
It gets better...my husband stops and gets off his bike and says "do you see it"? I am thinking "do I really want too"? A 5 foot long black snake is right on the trail in our path. Chris gets a long stick and pokes it. Snake plays dead. Then Chris tries to flip it over, snake moves! then it slithers back into the grass and up a tree. OK, freaked out now!

Ride as fast as I can past where the snake was and try to enjoy this bike ride. I look up to see cow sculls and jaw bones nailed to several trees along the path! "What in the world, where are we"?? Now, this is getting weird!
I am really not having fun at this point. We then realize we missed our turn and are now on the "green " trail, which of course is more challenging than the yellow.
Chris is feeling very bad for me now. After eight miles in the woods he gets us back safely to our campsite as fast as possible and our very weird bike ride is over.

V is for Vacation

                               We must rest to recuperate....

Mark 6:31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”