Good Food and Good Memories

Hello Wellness Lovers!

This week has been full of Delicious food and the memories that come with it, visiting a friend from school on the way to see my Grandma, and two Graduation Parties to end it all.

On Tuesday my mom and I went down to visit my Grandma. She is currently in a rehab facility since she just got out of the hospital. Once of my friends from school is near to where my Grandma is at. We stoped at her house and visited with her and her mom for a good hour to two hours. She lives in a rural area, more than I do. They have lots of land and many of their neighbors have farm animals. At their house they had chickens, which I loved. I don't want any but loved to watch them walk around. It also confirmed why I am vegan and why I cant eat them and their eggs, it definitely wouldn't seem right now. We then went and visited with my Grandma for a good couple hours. My Aunt (her daughter) told me her son was having a hard time eating dairy and wheat products so I let her know about the dairy alternatives to cheese (daiya) and other things that might help. It just seems more and more people are having a harder time digesting meat and dairy products.

After the visit with my Grandma my mom and I went to Whole Foods to pick some things up that we cant get at stores near us. At the store I started craving a dish that Ive had so many times when I was younger. My friends mom and her mom (friends Grandma) would make this dish and I would eat over there frequently. Recently my friends Grandmother passed away and I too thought of her as my Grandma so this dish reminded me of her. We bought some gluten free noodles for the dish and other goodies. To make the "Goolosh" we added homemade canned tomatoes, the pasta, green bell pepper, a little bit of onion, and black beans. It tasted just like Grandma Judy's and was absolutely wonderful.

Sweet Potato & Beet Chips, Gluten Free Pasta, Earth Balance Butter,

So Delicious Yogurt, and Strawberries...yummy!

"Goolosh" - Pasta with Noodles and Tomato Sauce with Black Beans

Yesterday was the Graduation of the High School I am an Alumni of. It seems so weird Ive already been out for two years already. On that note we had two Graduation parties that we got invited to. At the first party I filled up on some delicious fruit. Here in the north our fruit season isn't until mid June or so. It was nice to be able to have a fruit salad and taste all of those flavors. At the second party one of my friends also happens to be vegan so I was able to eat some of the food that her mom makes for her. I had also brought me some hummus so that I could could have a dip for fresh vegetables. At least I know what to do for the next Graduation Party. I have one more and then one is being thrown at my house for my cousin which will make it even easier.

At one of the Graduation Parties. I have been friends with these

girls for years. The girl I am sitting next to is also vegan.

Sending Healing Thoughts!

Learning New Ways To Re-Think Symptoms

I have been reading a book on these last few weeks on how to not to be controlled by your symptoms. The book is called "Stop Being Your Symptoms and Start Being Yourself" a 6 week Mind - Body Program to Ease Your Chronic Symptoms. The book is by Arthur J. Barsky M.D and Emily C. Deans M.D. I'm going to be honest, its taken me a little while to actually get into the book and still at times do not agree with it. There are several things though that I do agree with and think many of the ideas other people may feel helpful.

The book starts off talking about how since medical technology has advanced more people are living longer. Since people are living longer we are contracting more conditions, syndromes, or diseases that we wouldn't have otherwise including dementia and althestimers. Also because of medical technology many people expect to be cured of their conditions, syndromes, or diseases. When a person's symptoms aren't fully alleviated or the person isn't cured of the condition, syndrome, or disease the person gets disappointed. The person either blames their Dr that they are not doing their job or the Dr blames the patient that they are making up their symptoms.


The book also talks about the difference of symptoms and disease. A symptom can be produced by more things than physical disease; they can be produced by our life experiences, expectations, beliefs, and emotions" (pg 19). This is evident in those who have an optimistic outlook on their treatment. Those who are optimistic outlook do have symptoms but are less apt to focus on them. Also it is also evident in those who expect a cure or total remission of sorts. When I got diagnosed with RSD I knew my life was going to change. I did want remission but knew I had to get through every day and did so with the help of my family and friends. After 8 years I still have that support and realize how blessed I am everyday.


Dr's for the most part are taught to diagnose and treat their patients. When they find nothing wrong there is nothing to treat. This is hard especially with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy where nothing shows up on x-rays, CT's, MRI's, or other medical tests. Doctors are left to diagnose the patient by ruling out other conditions and focusing on the symptoms. That is also hard to do since not everyone who has RSD has the same symptoms. Someone may swell like a balloon while person's limbs may turn different colors, while another's may do both.


I will post more about the book when I have read more. I have found it interesting pretty far and so far a good read.




On Saturday my mom and I went to the store to get some fresh vegetables and fruit for the weekend. It was absolutely crazy there. I would go and grab something and almost get ran over. My tension headache from the night before came back full force and I was pretty much down for the rest of the evening. That night my dad had went to cut the watermelon we had bought. We were all so excited since it was the first one that we got this year. It ended up having some kind of worm type holes. My mom ended up taking the watermelon back to the store since it wasn't worth eating. Today we went to my sister's house. We had a Birthday type gathering for my other sister. I brought my vegan burgers and munched on some raw vegetables. There wasn't much I could eat other than corn which I eat with nothing on it (yum!). I had offered to make a cake or cookies (vegan of course) but was shot down by my mom earlier this week. I'm nervous about when I go to NYC what I'm going to eat. I'm going with all meat eaters, and even though I love salads, I do like a bit of variety too.

As I mentioned above Ive been having some trouble with my neck and my tension headaches are back. The only way I know to rid of them is to get my neck massaged and don't have an appointment for a month. If you have any suggestions I will take any at this point.



Healing Thoughts To All of You!