Yes I’m still here. My mom went in the hospital with a heart attack. It was a wake-up call for me in more ways than one. I spent the first week of December in the hospital with her. Then I got the flu on Christmas Day. Spent most of the day hugging a toilet. (not my best holiday ever) I’ve been under the weather since, and I have a lot of day job work to do plus other pressures. My sysadmin died. I’d worked with her for 17 years, it was quite a blow. We have to rework our company server and make huge changes. It’s been quite the storm.

But I’m working on my edits. I won’t put out Sorrowfish till she is ready. So I’ll keep plodding. I’m confident I’ll finish soon and sort of just trusting that my times are in His hands. I’m on Chapter 26 out of 53. I have one more chapter to write after this round, then I’m doing a read-aloud and edit. When that is finished, she goes to Long-Suffering Editrix®, who will also line edit. I’ll be map painting my cover and getting ready for the book launch.

Part of why am I so unwell? I’m pretty sure I have a candida yeast overgrowth, metabolic syndrome, an iodine deficiency, and all of that means massive hormone imbalances. The 11 different antibiotic IVs I had last February to beat a severe infection (and save my life) basically cleared the path for candida albicans to go nuts. So since then, I’ve had increasing fatigue, mental fog, joint pain and everything else (stuff that landed me in the ER every month for the next 4 months). It sent me into a tailspin.

Happily, I have the tools to fight these things now and I’m hoping with consistent diet, supplements and exercise, I’ll overcome. It’s been plaguing me in some form for a long long time. It just came to a head in 2018.

So, for those interested? I’m doing an antifungal diet, using a weight loss system called GONglow by Maria Gracia as my base plan. Her program is simple, inexpensive and practical. I’m pretty sure Maria is perfect. She is definitely all the things I’m not. A fitness instructor, professional organizer. Etc. I admire her deeply. Anyhow, I’ve been using her system for 6 months and lost about 20 pounds before hitting a plateau. After much prayer, I came home from church, flipped on one of my youtube subscriptions and Dr Fitt was featured. Prayer answered. He gave me the rest of my plan.

Dr Fitt is avant garde and has been attacked and harrassed and sued for his approach. If you Google him, you’ll see people have worked hard to discredit him. To me, that just means he’s over the target. But watch the long video on his website and decide for yourself. The video is worth the time. They go grocery shopping for his eating plan and he gets into nitty gritty details. If you decide to follow his diet, watch the video.

I’m pretty sure I have metabolic syndrome. Dr Fitt says any artificial sweetener will trigger my body to make insulin. Heh. okay. So. I’ve cut out artificial sweeteners (stevia only) My Diet Coke has been a difficult purge. There is a soda called Zevia made with stevia only. It’s not terrible. I’m using it and black tea. I like the ginger ale and root beer. I’m weaning off the soda completely though because of the aluminum cans. (I remember when it all came in glass bottles!)

I’m taking blackseed oil and Iodoral. Blackseed oil tastes like dragon vomit. Its really dreadful. Warning you. I take it like a shot. I’m also using his oil on my hands for joint pain (OMG Moab). The spray feels warm when I use it and I’m supposed to use it 6x a day. I have only done 1-2x a day. So I’ll up my intake and report back. I also have some GHR and Vital Reds my mom gave me, from BIE and Gundry MD, respectively. I think they are the same or close to it…as Dr Fitt’s Simply Purples. Normally I wouldn’t trust this company or even try the GHR but I read a study by Dr Carolyn Dean. I read her book on magnesium and I trust her. I’m continuing my transdermal magnesium treatments. I ordered the stuff to make my own Magnesium oil. I’ve also changed my milk products (Farm milk is available in our local stores) – Am using Tillamook cheese and organic butter. Around here the label says “Dairy Pure’ and the farm milk is in glass bottles. Not only does milk and dairy have hormones in it, a lot of time it’s packaged in plastic. As Dr Fitt says:

-p[‘Avoid food packaged in plastic or cans. BPA(bisphenol-A) is a chemical used to line food cans and make plastics. In humans and wildlife,BPA acts like the class of hormones called “estrogens”. Natural estrogens are a primary reason women usually store more fat than men. Estrogens make cells grow faster. The faster cells grow, the more likely cancer will develop.

I tossed all food with hormones or parabens or antibiotics. Only fresh food. I’m also not using regular bread (Ezekiel bread only) Bread contains bromides, who knew? Thank God for organic food. Maria’s program is mostly consistent with the BALi diet Dr Fitt recommends. So with just a few adjustments, I’m ok. And I lost 4 more pounds in a couple days. Hopefully my weight loss plateau has now been breached. Exercise is 1 hour a day. I alternate between Maria’s GONglow exercise videos, walking and these weird deep breathing exercises that make me feel better. (Greer Childers. I read her book years ago and her breathing technique is SUPER goofy… but I feel much better when I do it. So meh. If you want to know more about oxygen and exercise go here.)

I had to order my deodorant to cut out parabens. I got Primal Pit Paste. It isn’t here yet, but I’m excited to try it. In the meantime Soft&Dri seems to fit the bill. At least no aluminum. Why does it matter?

Parabens mimic estrogen and bind to estrogen receptors on cells. They disrupt hormone function. There are studies that suggest they cause breast cancer.

Then aluminum is worse (and its in vaccines!) Wellness Mama writes about it here.

Aluminum is a neurotoxin, i.e. it damages cells in the brain and spinal cord. This is why people don’t cook in aluminum pans anymore

Dr Fitt

So I also ordered Paraben-free shampoo and conditioner. (Not too expensive). I use Yardley of London soap, so that didnt have to change. I’m going sans makeup while I search for replacements that don’t break the bank. Aveda is awesome but pricey. I need to filter my water for flouride removal too but am just drinking distilled for now. I also am using Dr. Randolph’s Balance cream to get more progesterone.

I started all this seriously with the turn of the year.

The Iodoral immediately caused what I thought was a flu relapse. Nope. It’s crushing my candida.

Rapidly killing off candida in your body creates a metabolic reaction that releases over 70 different toxins into your body. Symptoms that show the candida cleanse and the candida diet are working include:

Impaired brain function

Headache

Fatigue

Dizziness

Intestinal distress including bloating, gas, constipation and nausea

Sweating and fever

Sinus infection

Skin breakouts (not limited to face)

Typical flu-like symptoms

When you start experiencing the candida die-off symptoms, rejoice! These symptoms usually clear up in seven to 10 days. The candida is leaving your body, and within just a few weeks, you will notice an increase in energy and focus, as well as relief from other symptoms you have experienced.

Dr Axe

While this isn’t fun and I’m definitely really sick, I’m hoping I’ll recover soon. I know the brain fog and fatigue aren’t what they were so am hopeful. I’m also using my darn sleep apnea mouthpiece diligently and sleeping at least 7 hours a night.

I’ve been down on myself for a long time about my lethargy and malaise. But its very hard to type with swollen, painful hands. Hard to work at all. Hoping with all of this I’ll be back to my smaller, happier, productive self. And maybe lose the high blood pressure, avoid diabetes and heart disease. Be around for my grandkids. Wouldn’t that be great?

Anyhow if you want more info about any of these things or why I’m doing them, happy to share. I don’t trust the medical system and think healthy food is our first line of defense against disease. Unfortunately, the more you research the more you realize… the farmer’s market is likely the best place to shop. Lucky for me we have a good one and plenty of local farms.

Anyhow, if you are a praying person? Pray for me in this effort. Also pray for my husband. The poor man shall be subjected to much eggplant.