The Most Difficult Part of Illness & The Most Glorious Part of Healing

Hi, friends and readers :)

By this time, I would most definitely place myself in the category of a recovering CFS/ME patient. It's been a long, hard road. Hopefully this is the last time that EBV says "Boo!" to me as it jumps out of the shadows. It was nice to be able to say "Boo!" to it with vitamin IVs, a vacation in Atlanta, an extended prescription of Valacyclovir (Valtrex), completely cutting gluten out of my diet, and a ton of sleep.

Now, looking back, I'm beginning to be able to pick out the superlatives of my illness. When things were worst, what was worst, what I learned most, etc. Today I want to tell you about the most difficult part of my illness. I don't think it is something unique to me, either, because someone unexpectedly mentioned this in an e-mail as a difficult part of her trial as well.

It's isolation.

Life challenges and changes are, as a general rule, separate us from those we love. Death, moving away, breaking up a relationship, choosing a new life direction, and illness are all common changes or challenges which force us into isolation and separation. In some cases, it will lead to better, deeper, more fuller new relationships, but it really depends on the people you are around in your new situation and your ability to connect with them.

And that's why one of the important parts of healing is reconnection.

Society. To me, it's an exciting word. It's big. It's noisy. It's messy. But that big, noisy mess that can bring pain and shame also has limitless possibilities for love, growth, expansion, wonderment, dreams, and new horizons.

I love to explore it. I have loved exploring it. I've loved every conversation about the inauguration, literature, philosophy, women in the military, bacteria, wellness, weight loss, and doctor's appointments. I've loved every meal, car ride, cafe, and coffee shop where friendships have been rekindled. I've reveled in the phone dates and email conversations with far away friends. I've basked in the sense of new responsibility and independence that have come with getting a new job, depositing my first pay check, making my own loan payment, and using my debit card again.

World, you are beautiful. 

No longer alone,
Camille

My Constant Companions Are in for a Surprise

The past week I have been researching candida albicans, a wonderful little bacteria that has decided to stage a full-scale invasion into my gut. These little buggers feed on my favorite sweet treats, breads, and yeasts and keep viruses, fungus, and unhealthy bacteria alive and thriving. But these constant companions are in for a surprise: I plan to starve them to death. *insert devious grin*

While I've been trying to deal with dietary adjustments due to my many allergies (whiiiiich I never blogged about. Heh.) I haven't had the energy and discipline to start treating my candida, but that's going to change fairly soon. In fact, the more research I do, the quicker I want to begin getting these pesky little energy invaders out of my body!

A friend from church graciously let me borrow some of her candida resources. The past two days I've made it through nearly half of Complete Candida Yeast Guidebook, Revised 2nd Edition by Jeanne Marie Martin and Zolan P. Rona. Martin was a candida sufferer for many years, and Rona is an M.D., and both offer great advice for supplements, medications, and dietary changes to consider in order to make your body an inhospitable environment for candida. Another book, which I am certain will come in very handy when I actually get around to driving out the candida, is The Candida Control Cookbook by Gail Burton. As usual, these three authors have some differences of opinions on what foods are alright to eat while on a candida diet, so I will hopefully navigate the waters of "questionable foods" by trial and error and see how my own body reacts.

I chuckled at this paragraph in the book, and hope you will find it amusing as well.

Some people think that occasional cheating, having ice cream once a or twice a week, for example, is okay. If you wanted to starve someone and fed him or her twice a week, the person might never die. Likewise, yeast will not die if you feed them sweets or refined foods, even occasionally.

So whatever your dieting or weight loss goals are this year, resolve to take them prisoner, and together we will starve these problems to death!

January Report

Hey, friends and faithful readers!

January has been an up-and-down month, as Januaries usually seem to be (for me). It started out with a lot of excitement about my new job working in an office in Erie. Then right after I started working I got a bad cold and so I was back to being a sickie for a while. But now I'm doing better and am excited again about regaining independence and health. I've still been doing normal-people things, albeit my life is still a bit duller than most people's. I've been doing quite a bit of reading recently. My favorite thing to read at the moment is The Journal of The Christian Institute on Disability. It was published by Joni and Friends and sent to me by my friend Molly, who works for JAF in their response department. The journal articles have really been stimulating my thinking in a lot of different ways, and I think I've really benefited from reading them by becoming even more empathetic towards people with struggles I sometimes have difficulty relating to. I recommend it to anyone!

One simple way to show empathy for people with disabilities is participating in JAF's Heart for the Disabled project. If you like making homemade cards, being encouraging, and enjoy mail, you should participate :) Check out this link and the video on this page for more details!

More Normalcy

A few months ago, if you would have looked at my to-do list, it would have looked something like this:

(1) Take supplements
(2) Read
(3) Write letters
(4) Blog
(5) Rest a lot
(6) Watch movies

About two months ago, it looked like this:

(1) Take supplements
(2) Take it easy
(3) Don't screw anything up
(4) Heal

A month ago, it looked like this:

(1) Take supplements
(2) Start walking
(3) Start being more social
(4) Pursue normal-people activities
(5) Continue healing

Now, it looks like any normal person's to-do list... but "take supplements" is still the first thing to do every morning :)

Every month I evaluate where I am and I decide what priorities I need to pursue in order to be more normal and get back to having a typical twenty-something year old's life. I feel like I'm still playing catch up, but that feeling lessens when I look back at the beginning of a new month and see what I have accomplished.

One goal I set for myself in the month of January was to get a job. This is a big step of getting back to normal - one that has to be pursued carefully. I knew that I needed a sitting-down job with not too early hours, preferably in a relatively placid environment. I assumed that this would take a bit of doing to find, but I was eager to start, so I began looking last Saturday online at Craig's List, Erie Times News classifieds, Monster, Snag-a-Job, and a number of other websites. I filled out a number of applications, sent my resume to more than a dozen potential employers, and waited. I got one scam call, and another scam e-mail. That was funny, but discouraging :P

On Wednesday I got a call from a fellow named Andrew Wagner (who said that he pretty much called me since we had the same last name) asking me to interview for his company on Friday. Friday I went in for the interview, that evening they called me back for another interview the following day, and after the second interview I was asked to come in to work on Monday morning. Talk about fast!!

And so, I am now employed part-time as an administrative assistant on the west side of Erie.

And there you have it; another step closer to normalcy.

Excited about life,
Camille

Normal-Person Busyness

Hellooooooo out there!

Yeah. It's been a while. But, I have reasons...! One reason is that I've been being normal-person busy.

See, sick-person busy is great. It's watching movies, eating three meals a day in bed (if you want), lots of yummy tasting liquid and chew-able vitamins, and keeping whatever hours you want. But you can only watch so much Little House on the Prairie before you're bored to tears....

But the past month or so, I've been normal-person busy - out of bed, up and around, going places and doing things.

I took up a new hobby: family history. I've sorted old pictures, spent way too many hours in the Heritage Room at the library, scrutinized old census records, squealed in excitement over discovering someone's wife's maiden name, and called churches to look up confirmation records. I've found news articles, pictures of grave sites, and obituaries. I've mentally mapped out locations where my ancestors have lived. I have discovered and read first-hand records left by my great-uncle Al who survived World War II as a German refugee. I have discovered and read letters written by my great grandparents, grandparents, father, and uncles written to my aunt while she was attending college. I found and have read a book answering many questions about my grandmother's upbringing and family life. I have a wonderful twenty-one page document, assimilating and containing all this information. My family. My roots. A living tree. It's a wonderful feeling.

Unfortunately, I've been rather stuck for about a week now. It's hard to go back past 7 or 8 generations even in a good line. Some lines I've barely made it back three generations. It's been a lot of work, but it has been good work, and I believe hours well spent.

I've also taken to doing a lot more reading than I had been recently. I re-read Emma, The Secret Garden, The Hobbit, The Count of Monte Cristo and other classics. My favorite, of course, was finishing The Most of P. G. Wodehouse. If I can write one novel in the style of Wodehouse, I will consider myself a good author, even if no one else acknowledges my literary achievement. :) The addition of a Kindle to my stash of prized possessions will ensure that much more reading will come in the near future as well!

Another activity that has been occupying time spent at home has been sewing and other crafty projects. It started around the beginning of December when I made a batch of home-made Christmas cards using card stock and brown-paper bags. I didn't have any glitter so I decorated them with Kosher salt crystals instead, which looked rather like snow, if I do say so myself.

Then my domestic ambitions were heightened and I decided to experiment with some garment alterations. I have several skirts made from good material that are simply no longer in style. So, out came the scissors and I shortened them (and skinny-fied them, since I haven't exactly been eating bon-bons and chocolate truffles...). And vwalah, I have several skirts I will be able to wear when the weather gets warmer again! Most of the alterations were very simple. The most complicated one was a tiered skirt. I removed the top tier with its waistband, skinny-fied it by taking up one of the side seams, put a zipper in the side seam (since before it had been elastic-waist) and then made a new waistband. I became very good friends with the seam ripper on that skirt. It was a pain in the neck. But now it's all done!!!

Other miscellaneous activities: going to a game night, making cookies, cooking wonderful food, taking walks, working out, teaching myself some yoga, bandying with insurance companies, decorating a demon-possessed Christmas tree, etc.

To keep from boring you, the most adventurous normal-person thing I've done has been to build a resume. One of my brother's friends has agreed to take a look at it before I submit it anywhere, so hopefully he'll be able to give me some good feedback and things will go well from there. I've spent a little bit of time looking for office assistant jobs on craigslist and some other job sites. I'm excited to start working again, getting out of the house, doing things, seeing people, making a difference in the world.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Camille

Catharsis

I've blogged about some of my favorite words before, and this is another one that I would have to put on my list of favorite words: catharsis. Catharsis means purging, purification, or clarification, as relating to an individual's emotional state. Discovering catharsis has been a huge part of healing for me. (I just spelled 'discovering' as 'descovering.' Apparently my acquired dyslexia still is hanging around....) A cathartic conversation with a friend allows me to get emotions out. Sometimes it takes a while for the emotional state to resolve itself. Other times it comes very quickly. But I have discovered one thing: if I in any way try to short-circuit this emotional process of purging, I will inevitably inhibit healing. It has happened numerous times. Showing emotions is natural. There is nothing spiritual, attractive, or realistic about hiding them. When emotions remain suppressed they can lead to physical problems as well as greater and deeper emotional ones (stress, anger, anxiety, bitterness, depression).

This morning I was in need of a good bit of catharsis. I have been growing increasingly more frustrated with our insurance company and the manner in which they have been handling some of the bill submissions. For each provider, I am required to fill out a certain form, provide proof of payment, and make sure that certain information is present for each item. Today I worked on gathering and resubmitting some of this information for the third or fourth time. To make things more frustrating, some of the information that was alleged to be missing has indeed been on all the forms I have submitted. I am not submitting anything new this time around (except for a few new bills...) and yet I am being required to re-document and re-submit information which has already been provided. I'm also being asked to provide justification for my prescriptions, which has never been required before. The frustration boiled over in tears and a few outbursts of anger at the company itself, but now it's over. The forms are all in order, and I hope this time they will be accepted. If not, I might have a bit more catharsis to get out in a bit of a more robust manner, because sitting at a desk filling out forms isn't very cathartic. It was useful, but I think a half-hour session with a punching bag might have been more appropriate.

What I don't understand about these insurance companies and their nit-picky requirement is, don't they understand we are sick? Don't they understand how time-consuming these forms are? I have too often met with negligence, miscommunication, and a lack of clarity when working with these companies. Maybe I should cut them more slack than I do, because I genuinely don't understand how their systems work, but really? Not looking forward to health care becoming even worse when it becomes a socialized industry regulated by the government.....

Three Reasons Today is Important to Me

Today is important to me for a number of reasons.

First, it's Election Day, and I am excited to cast my first presidential ballot. I've always been a bit of a political idealist. I love reading how politics are supposed to work based on the Constitution, electoral college, checks and balances, and the view that the best leaders would naturally rise to the top, like cream on milk. The political corruption which is reality saddens my heart, but I am still thankful for the moorings provided by the Constitution and the conscience of the American people.

Second, it's another day in NaNoWriMo - another day to write a story I feel has been pent up inside of me for a long time. Already my novel is at 12,000+ words on day six of this challenge, averaging a little more than 2,000 words a day. Writing this novel, is, in a sense, part of healing for me. This is not a novel that I ever think will be made available for publication (get real; I'm writing it in a month. It's going to suck!), but the experience of writing and the themes have nonetheless become very therapeutic.

The third reason today is important to me is a very sad reason, as today marks the funeral of an ME sufferer from the UK, Emily Rose Collingridge. I hope you will take a few minutes to Google her name or read an article about her case. Emily suffered from ME from the young age of 6 all the way to her death at 30 years of age. Her symptoms were many and very extreme, including periods of blindness, paralysis, and double incontinence. But in spite of being worse than bedridden, this extraordinary young lady became an advocate for ME sufferers and even wrote a book as a guide to living with the illness that claimed her life. Hats off to Emily. Her story has motivated me to raise what awareness I can in order to help severe ME patients know that they are not alone.

What makes today special to you?

Academic Plans

One aspect of my appointment that I didn't mention in my appointment review a few days ago was that Dr. Conley and I discussed my academic plans. Going back to school in January had been something my parents and I were still discussing. While I am anxious to return to school, there were a number of areas where healing needs to take place before I feel I am ready to go back.

I want to know I will be able to walk around campus, for one thing. I know a number of students who bike, but that hill going down from Hotchkiss scares me, and the idea of carrying a bike up and down all those steps isn't particularly appealing either. I have taken two walks so far, but the difficulty of doing even that was readily apparent the following day due to some strained or pulled muscles. I need to start doing baby-step workouts and build my body back to its old strength. 

Second, I'm still working on various aspects of social life, such as being able to handle seeing a lot of people in a short time (which inevitable happens in a college setting). Along with this consideration I include church attendance. Mine has been more consistent the past two weeks than it has for a long time, but it still has a long way to go. 

Third, with as disturbed as my sleeping patterns have been, I don't feel that living in a dorm (even one as quiet and well-behaved as Dixon) is in my best interest just yet. If off-campus living arrangements were feasible, I would probably take that option, but my inability to drive limits me in that respect, because I would have to live with someone who has a car and wouldn't mind taking me to campus. However, my special dietary restrictions also complicate living off-campus. 

Finally, there are certain spiritual aspects that make a return to Master's difficult at this point. In spiritual terms, this ongoing situation has been a trial of faith that has rocked my world and threatened my belief system. I do not pretend to have emerged unscathed.

So, for the time being, I will be at home at least until the Fall semester of 2013. The adventure continues.... :)

Gluten Free Options

So I've decided to post on a bit of a rabbit trail today, partially because I promised a friend I would e-mail her some information about gluten-free diet and I decided to kill two birds with one stone by blogging about it as well!

In today's world, many of our foods are contaminated by common allergens: wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, and corn are just a few examples. Others include nuts, chocolate, tomatoes, certain kinds of fruits, as well as natural and artificial sweeteners. Walk into a fast-food restaurant today and try to find something that does not contain one of these allergens and you will likely be able to find something. Try to find something free of two of these allergens and the task is close to impossible.

Thankfully today's world's food choices are wider than a fast-food restaurant! Most grocery stores (and even places such as Walmart and Target that sell more than just groceries) have a small or large gluten-free section. These selections will oftentimes include crackers, cookies, chips, pastas, cereals, breads, bread-product mixes, waffles and pancakes, and varieties of gluten-free grains. If you have a corn allergy you will need to watch that corn has not simply replaced wheat in some of these products, but you can generally find what you need or want. I could go on and on about the variety of gluten-free products you can find, some ready made, some in kits. Pizza crusts, ready-to-bake pizzas, muffins, frozen burritos, granola bars... you name it, I can help you find it.

The trouble with some of this is that all these foods (even some organic products) are just as processed - if not even more so - as their gooey-gluten-infested counterparts. So, you can eat gluten-free one of two ways:  naturally gluten-free, or processed gluten-free. Examples would be, making a toasted sandwich on gluten-free bread for lunch, or baking a potato and eating that with a side of meat and some other condiments. It all comes down to personal preferences, nutritional convictions and education, and price-range. Eating naturally gluten free (rice, potatoes, and vegetables instead of breads and pastas) is not only cheaper, but also better for you. There are dozens of kinds of potatoes, beans, rice, and lesser-known vegetables that taste great once you find your favorite ways of cooking them. Here are a few of my favorite ideas:

• White jasmine long-grain rice (naturally white, not bleached) with Cuban-style black beans
• White jasmine long-grain rice with Jamacian-style red kidney beans
• Cilantro-lime rice with refried beans, tortilla chips, and fresh salsa
• Spanish-style rice with beef and tomatoes

For potatoes, I usually eat them with pan-sauteed chicken breast or pan-sauteed turkey burger. (Aldi has bags of frozen chicken breast, and I found a package of turkey burgers at a local fresh market.)

• Roasted sweet potato with coconut oil and honey
• Diced sweet potatoes and beets, tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baked
• Salt potatoes (boiled in a salt-water brine)
• Grilled potato fries (you can use a crinkle-cutter blade and do these on a counter-top grille if you like)
• Pan sauteed potatoes (regular or sweet) with onions (yellow, sweet, or red)
• Baked redskin or Idaho potato with coconut oil, honey, salt, and pepper
• Baby or new potatoes, boiled

I'm usually a raw-veggie-dipped-in-ranch sort of person, but when you can't have ranch dressing, you become creative with some new ways of eating vegetables.

• Celery with almond or cashew butter
• Celery, carrots, and peppers with humus
• Roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts (chop broccoli heads into bite-sized pieces like you would serve on a veggie tray. Toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast on a cookie sheet in the oven at 375* F for 30 minutes until tender-crisp)
• Bake beets in a glass pan, also tossed in olive oil and seasoned. Goes well with sweet potatoes and onions baked in the same way.
• Asparagus or green beans sauteed in oil or water with garlic and onions
• Steamed broccoli seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon juice (I think this is tastier than the usual Parmesan cheese topping now!!)
• If you can still have dairy, but can't have gluten-containing products such as pastas, try replacing noodles with cauliflower or spaghetti squash. I have tried spaghetti squash, and know someone who has made a modified beef stroganoff recipe and served it over cauliflower instead of egg noodles. I would like to try this some time when I am allowed to have dairy products again. 
• I'm not a fan of spinach as a general rule, but I do like it steamed with salt and pepper, sometimes olive oil or garlic as well

One of the trickiest things about going gluten free is snacks and meals on the go. Here are a few ideas for both of those.

• Gluten-free crackers with your favorite nut butter, cheese, etc.
• Rice cakes dipped in hummus
• Fruit, such as apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, etc. Certain ones are also good with nut butters.
• Sprouted (soaked) almonds, other kinds of nuts
• There are some great gluten-free bars available, such as Larabars, made from just a few ingredients. My favorites are blueberry and cashew cookie. These are my middle-of-the-night life-savers. A few times I've woken up quite early, starving, and having one of these by my bed saves me from having to venture downstairs to get a snack from the refrigerator. They are kind of tricky to find, but I found them at Wegmans in Erie. Whole Foods Coop also sells them (they are more expensive there). Some Sam's Clubs and Costco's also sell them.
• Tortilla chips and fresh salsa
• Roasted, seasoned chick-peas. Best hot.
• Popcorn! I just season mine with tons of salt. And, if you must have a butter substitute, a little melted coconut oil is alright. 

Worried about not being able to eat out? Here are a few recommendations and websites to help.

• Gluten Free Registry.
• Gluten Free On the Go.
• Chick-fil-A - some restaurants advertise the grilled chicken nuggets, others do not. You can also request chicken strips grilled, or order just a char-grilled fillet. Obviously fruit cups are gluten free, and I don't remember if the fries are, but they have a fantastic nutrition guide with all that information that should be available at the restaurant. 
• Five Guys - you can order your burger without a bun, but I recommend bringing your own bowl to eat it out of, and I also recommend ordering messy condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and relish on the side. Getting all of that mess inside foil just requires too many napkins.
• Moes, Chipotle, or Qdoba - I love a good burrito, but I've had to give up having it in the tortilla. Most places will just give you the burrito ingredients in a bowl. I think it's called a naked burrito. 
• Olive Garden - I hate going here with my family because I always want the bread sticks and the pasta looks soooo good! However, some of the soups (the zuppa tuscona is my favorite) are gluten-free, so you can always fill up on soup and salad.

I was specifically asked about brand recommendations by my friends, so here are some. 

• Gluten-free oats: I buy in bulk from the Whole Foods Coop in Erie. They have both organic and non-organic available.
• Gluten-free bread: I buy Glutino Fiber Bread from Wegmans and keep it in the freezer and toast slices as I need them. I have tried a white rice bread from Udi's, which is commonly available wherever gluten-free products are found. I was trying to make gluten-free, dairy-free grilled cheese (riiiiight). So I used this bread, a soy-based cheese replacement, and grilled it in a pan in coconut oil. I was NOT a fan of the cheese, and the bread seemed to get soggy quickly. The texture is smoother than the fiber bread, but I still prefer the fiber bread anyway. 
• Gluten-free crackers: I found Mary's Gone on my most recent trip to the Coop. The are made primarily from seeds and have a strong flavor, but they are good with almond butter or goat cheese on top. 
• Gluten-free pasta: I recently tried a quinoa/corn pasta that I found at Giant Eagle. I have tried Tinkyada brown rice pasta (elbows as well as penne). I was not a fan of the gummy-texture. The skinnier the noodles, the better they taste, it seems. 
• Gluten-free cereals: probably the easiest and cheapest cereal is rice chex, corn chex, or plain cheerios made from oats. I have tried some gluten-free cereals from Glutino, but I didn't like them and didn't think it was worth it to pay that much. 
• Gluten-free flour alternatives - a brand I would recommend is Bob's Red Mill. I have tried their rice flour before, but I know they have many, many mixes, flours, and other items. 
• Nut butters: Justine's, Maranatha, or in bulk from Whole Foods

Just a few assorted tips, some gluten free, some for other allegies...

• Adding xantham gum to a recipie with your gluten free flour can help the taste and texture
• Don't try using egg-replacer to make egg-free brownies. I'm not sure how it can be done. I'm sure it can, but egg-replacer is NOT the way to do it! =)
• You can find coconut and almond yogurt in some places (I found it at Whole Foods Coop, and I'm sure Wegmans carries something similar). The brand I tried for almond yogurt was Amande, and I have heard the So Delicious makes a pretty good coconut yogurt. Amande was not organic or anything. 
• Of soy, rice, flax, and almond milk, my favorite by far is flax milk. However, it is difficult to find, so I usually end up getting rice milk (Rice Dream brand). It tastes similar to skim milk in cereal, but it's still difficult for me to drink a glass or have some with cookies. It's just not quite the same. 
• Coconut oil makes a great substitute for butter, and it is very healthy for you. Depending on which brand you get, it doesn't really smell or even taste like coconut! Usually we by Spectrum, which is an Organic brand, but if there is a sale on something else, we will sometimes change to a different brand. These come in glass jars or bottles, which is a blessing, because coconut oil will often harden, but can be melted again. I usually boil some water and pour it into a glass bowl, set the coconut oil in the hot water, and wait for it to melt so I can use it easier or pour it into recipes or dishes.

Finally, a few ideas of where to find gluten-free foods.

• Health food stores (such as Whole Foods Coop in Erie)
• Whole Foods (an actual grocery store, not to be confused with the coop mentioned above)
• Giant Eagle
• Krogers
• Meijer
• Trader Joe's
• Online (Paleo bread, Larabars)
• Farmer's Markets

I hope this has been helpful to someone out there!! :)

Appointment Review

Summary, in case the medical details bore you:

• Good appointment with Dr. Conley by phone yesterday
• Valtrex update - will remain on it until Christmas
• I'm not gluten intolerant (yet) but I have high sensitivities to gluten and so I'm officially GF (gluten free)
• I have some bloodwork coming up this Thursday
• I'm going to write a novel. This November. Yay for NaNoWriMo!!!

Yesterday I had another phone consultation with Dr. Conley. I'm getting rather used to phone doctor's appointments, I think. I set up the desk with my binders of test results, other paper information, all my current supplements (so I can update him on any changes), and my computer as my own personal researching center. Today's appointment I had a lot of good news for him since my October 2nd appointment. I told him about Progressive Medical Center and Dr. Agolli and the vitamin IVs and how much better I am feeling now. After I'd told him everything he said, "Well, whatever works, that's what we'll do!" If it turns out that I need more IVs, I can go back to Atlanta for more treatment. Dr. Conley thinks it is likely that the IV solution was saline (salt) based, which increased my blood pressure and helped take care of some of the other orthostatic symptoms, and the vitamin B increased my energy levels.

Although I've been feeling better, Dr. Conley thinks I need to be on Valtrex at least until Christmas. Possibly after the current round is finished, I can switch from Valtrex/Valacyclovir over to Acyclovir, which is a little bit older of an antiviral drug and a little less expensive. I still want to do some research on Phoenix Rising about the difference between the two, so I might blog about that later.

The saliva test revealed some interesting things. First, my adrenals are actually not in too bad of a condition. Second, my saliva shows high gluten antibodies (indicating a possibly food allergy or intolerance) despite the fact that my blood does not display any adverse reaction to gluten. In Dr. Conley's experience, saliva is an 'early indicator' of gluten intolerance. There has been no permanent gut damage, but if I were to continue eating gluten, it is possible it could cause some real problems down the road. So, looks like I'm gluten free for good. I'm thinking about blogging about some gluten free brands and food options soon. Let me know if there is anyone out there interested in hearing anything specific on that!

We also talked about a blood test useful in diagnosing how well my natural killer cells are functioning. (I don't remember what those are or what they do... sorry.) When I had my first round of bloodwork done the lab ran the wrong test. So, I called the supervisor and it took about two weeks to make sure the right test would be done. It was drawn again last week, but something happened that contaminated the specimen, so the lab called me to come in yet again for this test on Thursday. I just hope this is the last time for sure!! If those come back low, there is a very effective way of raising natural killer cell function by as much as 200%, and it is natural and has no side effects. Whoop-de-doo! Already ordered some of that, because it sounds like even if they come back just fine, it wouldn't do any harm to take them anyway, and it could help my struggling immune system.

I am looking forward to my time of recovery. It is almost November, and that means that NaNoWriMo is almost here!!! I participated in National Novel Writers Month in 2010 when I was recovering from mono. I'm looking forward to now participating in it as a recovering CFS/ME patient. If you are friends with me on Facebook, I will be posting photos daily with a word count update. If not, I will sometimes probably post updates here. Just don't count on as much blogging. I'm going to be writing 1667 words a day at least, so I don't know if I'll even want to blog!

Well, I think that's about it. Have a fantastic day, y'all! :)