So I’ve been doing acupuncture and While I always feel great directly afterwards, I’m not sure that it’s having any major affect on me. But it has only been like 4 sessions so far and maybe it just takes time. I’ve never been a patient person. I really just want to be able to live my life without back pain. I’m so tired of dealing with it all the time. I want to be able to do things like walk through a store.

I’m already planning My Thanksgiving dinner. This year we’re actually doing it the day after Thanksgiving because we both have to work the day before and we need a day to prep, so we settled on having dinner on the 25th.  I’m going full traditional for the Thanksgiving…Turkey and all the usual sides. However I think we’re going to do something completely different for Christmas. We may do something Mexican, We haven’t quite decided yet.

I’m so sleepy today….life has been hectic lately. Between physical therapy and acupuncture I’ve been doing a lot lately. Hopefully though I will have less pain in the end. I really would like to be in better physical condition. I hate feeling like I can’t walk anywhere or do anything. I mean I have a mobility scooter and that helps but also it can be a real pain. Navigating with it isn’t the easiest and there is still so much I can’t do that I would like to do. For example, we went to Gatlinburg and there were things I couldn’t do like go into certain stores because there just wasn’t enough room for the scooter. I want to be normal again and be able to walk places and not feel like an old woman….

All my life I’ve been a bit of a rebel…sometimes it was a good thing. It has allowed me to find my own path in life and get me to a place where I feel comfortable with myself and my life choices. I did it my way and I’m perfectly okay with that. Other times it’s been a bad thing like when I stayed in relationships that I knew I should have dropped a long time before I actually did it. Those choices ended up costing me and those I care about alot of pain and hurt.

At this point in my life I think I’ve been rebellious so long that I almost do it subconsciously.  When I first discovered the Keto diet I it was through the keto subreddit. I saw all these posts of people who were having all kinds of success. It was a lifestyle that was the antithesis to what I had alway been told was the correct and healthy way to eat. But it seemed like all these people were having great success and enjoying what they were eating. Also it didn’t require me to feel like I was starving myself which was a bonus.

I spent the next few weeks reading various studies, books, and watching videos. It was enough to convince me that I needed to try this. My husband was raised by a very health conscious mother and when I began telling him about it he was very skeptical, as this whole entire lifestyle went against everything she had taught him and, what was and still is the accepted way of eating from most doctors, dieticians and nutritionists.  However, he agreed to give it a go with me and that started our 8 month Journey.

We both lost about 40 pounds during that 8 months and couldn’t believe how well it worked. Then his parents moved in, at that point they were both Sugar junkies. I’m not blaming them but it certainly is hard to avoid sugar when it’s always around. We ended up gaining a good portion of our weight back. It was awful. Eventually they moved out but we didn’t jump back to doing the right thing.

Then in June of 2018 I was diagnosed as having Type II Diabetes. I was prescribed both Metformin and Insulin. But I really didn’t want to start taking medication. With everything that I had learned while doing Keto previously I knew I can beat this if I just changed my lifestyle. I also read the Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung who advocated not only for a low carb lifestyle but intermittent fasting as well. So I immediately decided to go back to keto and I did not start taking medication. My Doctor wanted to see me again in 3 months, well I never started on the medication and began low carb immediately with only some fasting. At the visit where I was diagnosed my A1c was 10.5% and when I went back in 3 months it had dropped to 6.9%. My Doctor was shocked, she said she never saw numbers like that. Well what did I do, I became careless yet again. Because yes it makes total sense to celebrate lowering your blood sugar by having junk food and raising it again….

I know what I need to do, I know I can heal my Diabetes, but I’ve had the hardest time making myself commit. I think what I’ve realized is that subconsciously I was fighting against it because It’s something I know I have to do and yet my nature is to rebel against it. Well apparently I now need to rebel against my own rebelliousness, because honestly at this point my life depends on it. Diabetes can kill if you don’t do something about it, and I really need to do something about.

So I have awesome news, In June when I was diagnosed With Type II diabetes My A1C levels were at 10.5 and the doctor prescribed metformin as well as insulin, I never started on either one. Instead based on the book The diabetes code by Dr. Jason Fung, I went back on the Keto diet and implemented intermittent fasting. Yesterday I went back to the doctor and my A1C was 6.9. I highly recommend both of Dr. Fung’s books, they are life changing!

I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes 2 months ago, the insulin I was prescribed, would have cost me almost $500.00, so I didn’t buy it. I also didn’t start on metformin. Instead after reading the Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung I started back up On the Keto Diet along with Intermittent fasting. In the beginning my blood sugar averaged around 190mg as of today I’m averaging around 140mg and am seeing dips down into the 120mg range. I don’t see the point of trying shove more “sugar” (insulin) into my body when my body is already rejecting it. I’m feeling pretty positive about this change.

Normally I don’t get upset and go on Rants, but today I’m going to. Right now, my 61-year-old Mom is sick, she’s at home with a fever. She’s not sure what’s causing that fever and she can’t afford to find out, because she doesn’t have health care. WE NEED MEDICARE FOR ALL. People shouldn’t have to choose between paying the bills and going broke because they are sick. I’m in my current condition because I couldn’t afford health care before we had the Affordable Care Act, and I ended up not being diagnosed for a very long time, then when I was I couldn’t afford to keep getting my bloodwork drawn and meds Adjusted. Now a bunch of people want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act instead of improving on it. I personally would gladly pay higher taxes to ensure that others never must suffer through making the tough choice of going to the doctor or paying bills.

So for the past month I’ve been dealing with some kind of Rash that initially started on my leg as what appeared to be a small water filled bump. One night in my sleep I scratched it open. This lead to an open wound. For most people no big deal, for someone with both Graves Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (ie…me), this is a problem. My already compromised immune system means that not only will my wounds heal more slowly there is a greater possibility of infection. But anyway I decided to wait a few days to see how things with my leg would pan out. During that time my leg began to itch horribly. To the point that when We finally decided to take me to Urgent care a huge part of my lower right leg was very red and very sore. So the Urgent care doctor gave me a prescription for Antibiotics and an Anti fungal.  For the next two weeks I took these and finished them, however at this point I now also had itchy rashes on my upper leg areas, on my stomach and chest as well as on both arms. I tried hydrocortisone, Gold Bond rapid relief, Gold Bond multi symptom with lidocaine, and Benedryl anti itch gel. Nothing worked to stop my itch.

With none of that working and things only getting worse, We finally decided it was time for me to see my doctor, So in we went. After examining me and being shown the prescriptions I already took, it was decided that I should have another round of antibiotics & anti-fungal medication. The doctor explained that because of my already weakened immune system I needed extra time for my body to heal and repair itself. She also told me I could take two oral benadryl per dose to help with the itching. But honestly it didn’t do much good. The only way I found any kind of relief was taking a shower and moisturizing afterwards. That would relieve my itching for a least a few hours, but this was also drying my skin out. In fact on one day I think I took at least 5 showers. Then I remembered that when I was a child, I had suffered through chicken pox. I remembered that my mom had used calamine lotion for the itching. I also noticed how dry my skin had become from all the showering. This is a problem, because my skin already dries and cracks easily due to my Graves Disease. So When Mark called me on his lunch break, I told him to pick up some Cotton Balls, Calamine Lotion, and Baby oil on his way home from work.  It’s been six days now and I’m actually seeing results. I think the Antibiotics are doing their job and the calamine has helped with the itching. Applying baby oil after showering has helped me to keep my skin from drying out. Today my arms and legs look much better and I’m finally not really itching. I’m just spot using the calamine at this point, so if a little area itch’s I just put some calamine on and it is helping.

Having an itch you can’t scratch is a miserable thing and when it’s been going on for so long it’s enough to drive you insane. I’m just so glad that it actually appears to be over now..hopefully soon enough my skin we be normal again.

The only nightmare I have is one of going backwards where I manage to rack up thousands of dollars in medical debt and am Once again forced to file bankruptcy.

I don’t want Health Insurance I want Health Care and I want all my fellow Americans to have equal access to that health care. We need single payer so that people aren’t forced to choose between their health and their bills.

Insurance on health is a losing bet. It’s us paying into a company hoping we don’t need it and then expecting it be there when we do. The problem is unlike car insurance, Homeowners, or renter’s insurance which you may never need, we will all need health care at some point.

Insurance companies want to make profits, that’s what companies do, that’s why prior to the ACA they would do things like deny people with pre-existing conditions, and set life time limits so that you and your sickness wouldn’t bite into their bottom line.

We should be fighting for Medicaid for all, not trying to bandage what was made into a crippled system because of partisan infighting.

Celebrating a slim but symbolic health-care win in Washington, President Donald Trump told supporters in Ohio that the nation was one step closer to liberation from the “Obamacare nightmare.”

Source: President Trump says liberation from ‘Obamacare nightmare’ is close | PBS NewsHour

So it’s been a week since they removed my toenail, and thankfully I’ve only bumped it once. Man was that ever painful, but what was even more painful was the epsom salt bath the day after. It hurt so bad I actually fainted. It was pretty horrible. The other thing that sucks about this whole toenail removal is that because I have both Graves` disease and Hashimoto’s my wounds heal seriously slow. So who know’s how long I’m going to have to mess with bandages and neosporin.  I’m supposed to go back to the doctors on Friday so I guess we’ll see what he says. I just hope I can avoid stubbing or bumping again before it heals.

I never forgot how to walk or suffered any kind of horrible accident that left me unable to walk, but I having major back problems has kept me off my feet. Finally we purchased a walker. Yesterday I used it for the first time to walk around Krogers with Mark. Today my calves are very sore, but I suppose I’ll just have to keep going if I want to get better. Currently  My goal is to be walking properly again by the time I get my associates degree. I’m hoping that by then I’ll once again be the old me, who used to walk every where. I miss that. You have know idea how lucky you are to have something like the ability to walk down the street, until you don’t have it. I really hope that things can get better for me.