Healthier Healthcare

This is me with what I call my "Phantom of the Opera" face.  A couple of years ago, I started to notice a spot on my cheek that would appear about once a month and then go away.  It looked like a large pimple or mosquito bite.  Over the course of a few months, the "pimple" when it appeared was larger each time until one day, I woke up like this.  I was baffled.  I felt ugly and itchy.  I was using a medical doctor and a chiropractor at the time.  The medical doctor was also baffled.  She sent me to a dermatologist who referred me to an allergist who still couldn't figure it out.  The chiropractor was able to relate the rash to an illness that I would get from time to time.  But he still wasn't entirely sure what actually caused the rash.  I mentioned this to the allergist.  He suddenly had an answer for me.  This is urticaria, or an allergic reaction to medication.  In my case I am allergic to aspirin and other salycilates.  If it wasn't for my chiropractor, I don't think the allergist ever would have figured out what was going on.

I have been frustrated for a long time about my healthcare options.  Ever since my first experience with alternative healthcare, I have wished for the ability to use it as my primary care.  Unfortunately, I can't.

I get bronchitis several times a year.  I have even had pneumonia four times within the last ten years.  Because of how sick I have been the past few years, I have had to sign up for FMLA or the Family Medical Leave Act which allows me to miss work as needed without getting into trouble with my job.  Unfortunately, when I file for FMLA, I have to have it approved by my company's health insurance provider.  The first time I filed for FMLA, I was using a chiropractor as my primary healthcare provider.  He uses a system called Nutrition response testing that uses acupuncture points to determine the strength or weakness of my body's muscles and organs.  These tests can help him diagnose issues as well as determine the best natural treatment for them.  I really appreciated not having to use pharmaceutical medication which usually has unwanted side effects.  However, my health insurance company did not recognize my chiropractor as my primary care provider, so I had to start all over again with a medical doctor.  

Luckily, I really like my general practitioner.  She is very kind and very willing to listen and try to determine what is causing me to be so sick all the time.  Sometimes when issues are beyond her field of knowledge, she will refer me to a specialist like an allergist or immunologist.  The doctors I have had contact with in these instances are less friendly.  They don't seem to care how you feel.  If they can't determine the cause of your illness on a test, you don't have a cause.  You just get sick.  A lot.  But there's nothing wrong with you.  I had an immunologist tell me my immune system was in perfect working order, I just can't handle viruses... How does that make sense?

Anyway, all of this has left me wishing that I could go back to the chiropractor.  I have had to have my blood drawn several times.  I have had my chest x-rayed twice.  I have gone through all kinds of allergy testing, all of which was a very expensive way of saying, yes you have food allergies (which the chiropractor already told you), but there is nothing wrong with you in spite of the fact that you get bronchitis several times a year.  At least the chiropractor was able to give me supplements that helped my body fight whatever virus was knocking me out.  My gp has to usually put me on antibiotics that make me nauseous, give me heart burn, and keep me from sleep.

What I would really love to see happen would be for my insurance company to start including alternative healthcare in its medical coverage.  I believe that if they would recognize qualified alternative healthcare providers, I would be able to choose the treatment my body needed based on the illness I was facing.  I would love to have my chiropractor recognized as a primary care doctor.  This way I would be able to only use an antibiotic if I absolutely had too.  Maybe my body would learn to fight illnesses on its own, and in time I would get sick less often if I could build up my immune system.  

Alternative healthcare on average costs less than traditional medical care.  Office visits for a physician specialist range from $100-300, while a chiropractor is usually $50-250 (Ullman, n.d).  I know my chiropractor charges $90 for the first visit and $45 for each visit after that.  That's a lot less than a visit to the immunologist.  Mine cost $200.  Of course, I only pay my co-pay portion of the office visit to my medical doctor.  Think of how much the insurance company would save if they were paying a co-pay to my chiropractor versus my medical doctor!  

Patients like me who are able to seek alternative medicine such as acupuncture, nutrition, homeopathy, or chiropractic care are healthier in the long run.  They are taught how to feed their bodies to receive proper nutrition, and diet and exercise are often included in their healthcare regimen.  This is because homeopathy focuses on natural, non-invasive healing that allows the body to become less dependent on pharmeceuticals (Homeopathy, 2005).  If I were able to get to a more healthy lifestyle, I would have less visits to the medical doctor, urgent care, less blood tests, chest x-rays.... My health insurance company would save thousands with me alone!!

Basically, it is time for a change.  If you agree with me and want to have more access to alternative healthcare, let me know.  If you don't agree with me that's cool, you can let me know too if you want.  I just think we should be given a choice to choose traditional medicine or alternative care.

References:

Homeopathy Care, LLC. (2005). What is homeopathy? Retrieved May 31, 2011 from    http//www.homeopathycare.org.

Ullman, D. (n.d.). Finding professional homeopathic care. Retrieved June 21, 2011 from http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/Finding_Professional_Homeopathic_Care/808.

Date Night!

So, since becoming aware of my food allergies, date night has gotten a little difficult.  At first, I had no idea where I could eat, or how to order.

Even though I don't have celiac's disease, I still start with a gluten-free menu.  Then, I whittle down my options from there.  The gf menu means there's no wheat in the meal, so I just have to watch out for things like chicken, beef, and corn.

Some restaurants are very good about providing a gf menu.  Just be careful, because often, the restaurant will not prepare the food separately from gluten items.  For me, this is okay, but for those of you with celiac's, watch out!

The other day, Adam and I decided to go to Olive Garden since we had a gift card.  Olive Garden has a gluten-free penne pasta!!  You can substitute it for other pastas if you're sick of salads.  Just let the server know about your allergy, because some of their sauces still have gluten in them.  It was so fantastic having pasta again!!  I thought I was in heaven!  Of course, my tummy wasn't used to being so stuffed, so it took a little walk around the mall to settle things down, but it was worth it!!

Lentil Soup

This week I came down with rather a nasty virus.  My body weak yet hungry, I yearned for soup.  I had no canned soup in the house because of my various allergies, and I had not the energy to drive to a restaurant, purchase a soup, and hope it wouldn't make me more ill.  So, what did I do?  I made some soup!!  I was rather proud of this little concoction, since I was also low on groceries and did not have much to use.

Here's the delicious Lentil Soup:

1/2 c lentils
2 c water
chopped carrots (I use baby carrots and chop until I feel I have enough)
chopped red onion (1 quarter of an onion should be sufficient)
chopped avocado (1/2 or 1 avocado.... I'm an avocado fanatic!!)
1 c water
garlic salt
Tony Chachere's "Original Creole Seasoning"

Bring your 2 cups of water to boil and add your lentils.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add carrots and onion and bring back to a boil.  Add seasonings to taste.  If desired, add another cup of water.  Reduce heat and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes (depending on how soft you want your veggies).  Add the avocado and enjoy!!

Feel free to try out the recipe for yourselves and tweak it as desired.  I don't use chicken stock in cooking simply because I cannot eat chicken.  I have not yet tried bullion cubes to see if they are safe for me.

* Just a note... I made the soup for Adam when he was sick and he had a suggestion that I think is pretty good.  He liked the soup but felt it was too salty.  Since there is salt in the Tony Chachere's seasoning, you may want to try using fresh garlic or garlic powder instead of garlic salt.  I'm planning on using fresh garlic the next time I make the soup. 

A Food Blog

A food blog has been on my mind for quite some time.  I am not a chef.  I am not a doctor or nutritionist.  I'm just a girl who has discovered her body does not process food very well.

When I was 17, I was sitting down to breakfast one Sunday morning.  My mom had bought fresh grapefruit (my favorite!) so I excitedly cut it in half and used that little crooked knife to slip all the yummy pieces of fruit out.  I savored the whole thing.  After finishing my happy breakfast, I had a couple hours before church, so I went upstairs to read.  I remember a few minutes later, my mom called me from downstairs.  I love my mom, but she is not patient, so I tried to yell "coming" so she would know I was listening.  To my surprise, no words came from my mouth.  I ran for the door trying to yell, not making a sound.  I opened the door to an irate mother who thought her teenage daughter was ignoring her.  One look at my face and her expression changed.  I don't remember exactly everything that morning; I must've already started breaking out in hives.  I could barely breath.  I remember her asking me what I'd eaten, and my sister must have told her about the grapefruit.  Luckily for me, I have an aunt with a citrus allergy, so my mom called her right away.  We were able to clear up the anaphylactic response with benadryl and baking soda.  That was the day my love affair with citrus fruit ended.

I was devastated.  No more orange juice, no more pineapple, no more grapefruit.  No more strawberry limeades from Sonic!!  For a long time, I couldn't even have a sliver of lemon in my drinking water.  I thought my life was over.  But eventually, I moved on.

It was difficult at first, since everything seemed to have some form of citrus in it, but as the years went by, my body seemed less anti-citrus.  I found a sliver of lemon or lime in my drink was ok from time to time.  I've even survived a few strawberry limeades with merely a rash around my lips.  I realized that cooked citrus was fairly harmless, but still tended to avoid anything more than a squirt of juice.

Then, about a year and a half ago, I started getting sick.  Everytime I ate, my left side would begin to hurt.  I felt I was being stabbed, slashed in my lower abdomen.  I would often get stomach cramps followed by well, let's just say it was less than pleasant.  Finally, I went to my doctor in February of last year.  I told him what was happening, and he brushed it off as a virus that would just go away.  He prescribed a painkiller.  I felt hurt.  I knew he was wrong.  This man had been my doctor since I was 6 years old.  I trusted him, like a great-uncle.  He'd been there for me during some of the toughest times of my life, and he wasn't listening to me anymore.

I had a new boyfriend named Adam.  Though we'd only known each other a few weeks, I felt I could trust him with my illness.  Adam has a brother named Bryan who is what I call a homeopathic chiropractor.  Bryan not only is a chiropractor, but he is certified in acupuncture and nutrition.  I've always been a traditional medicine sort of girl, but the pain in my side was so great, I grew increasingly desperate and agreed to let Bryan do his nutrition response testing to diagnose my trouble.

Bryan discovered I was allergic to wheat.  Or rather wheat intolerant.  I wasn't having an anaphylactic response, but my body was in essence rejecting the wheat.  A bitter pill to swallow, let me tell you.  No more bread, pasta, pastries, cakes?!?!  No more of my aunt's famous dinner rolls??  How could I go on?

But persevere I did.  I gave up my favorite foods.  I told family and friends of the allergy and that is when I learned of celiac's disease.  Bryan had not mentioned the possible illness to me, and I wondered if I had it.  At the time, I did not understand enough about celiac's disease to use the information about it for my benefit.  I ignored gluten-free items, arrogantly thinking "I'm not allergic to gluten, I'm allergic to wheat", not realizing that gluten-free items would naturally be wheat-free as well.

I lost 15 pounds over the summer of 2009.  Just giving up wheat.  I felt better for several months.  Then, in August, the pain began again.  Horrible stomach cramping that would leave me crying in the bathroom; the stabbing in my side.  I was already seeing an allergist regarding an unrelated issue, and told him about my problem.  He suggested I had more unknown food allergies.

They ran a skin prick test which declared that I was allergic to chicken, beef, sqaush, coconut, cherries, peas, and green beans.  But the test did not show an allergy to wheat.  Both my allergist and I were perplexed.  So we ran a blood test.  The doctor explained that my body could be creating anti-bodies to fight food the way it would fight an illness or foreign invader.  From the test, we discovered my body was "fighting" wheat, corn, and cow's milk.  So Bryan had been right all along.  We just missed a few other food items.

So, I've done the best I can to eat food while avoiding wheat, corn, milk, chicken, beef, squash, coconut, cherries, peas, and green beans.  Oh yeah, and don't forget I still can't have citrus fruit.

Trust me, it is extremely difficult to avoid all these things at once.  Gluten-free foods often contain corn-syrup or corn-starch.  Everything has milk.  But I've begun to discover foods I can eat.  Things to buy at the grocery store, even how to eat out at a restaurant.

I'm still struggling with food.  Even with the strictest diet, I still have pain nearly every day.  My allergist has asked me to visit a gastrointestinal specialist.  My appointment with him is next week.

With all the pain and frustration I've been suffering, I've decided that I've got to put this all to good use.  If I'm going to suffer, it has to be for a good cause.  I know I'm not the only person out there with food allergies.  I'm sure there are many who struggle just as much, if not more, than I do.  So I have decided to make a blog about my journey.  Maybe what I learn about how to eat will benefit me, but also others out there.  Maybe you struggle from an illness that restricts your diet.  Maybe you just want to eat a little healthier.  I'd like to create a place where we can come together to give each other support.  I'll post updates on my health and how it affects my eating habits as well as tips I come across that help me better manage my diet.  Feel free to share your ideas too.