It’s been a long time since I last sat down and wrote a blog post… WAY too long. In the coming months I hope to share more and fill in the gaps from the past few years. A lot has happened.
Tonight I sit at the table writing as soup simmers on the stovetop. The kids just came in from doing farm chores. The laundry piles are larger than I would like, and the house is not perfectly tidy. But life is good.
Last year we had a temporary set back after we had a leak in our basement. We found mold. We sealed the area off. We put on our hazmat suits and masks. We ripped out every last piece that had mold on it and disposed of it safely. We did all the things to make sure that we weren’t spreading it or exposing ourselves recklessly to it. Still… I had a flare up.
Years ago I had fought hard, changed my diet, used anti-inflammatory herbs and successfully put my ankylosing spondylitis into remission. I actually had started to doubt the diagnoses was even correct. Until last April. After working in the basement the pain came back like a haunting ghost from the past. I was waking in the middle of the night in tears.I was dreading bedtime because I knew the pain was coming. Migraines started to plague my days aggravated by the pain in my spine.
It can be really tempting in those moments of setbacks to feel like all the hard work and progress is gone. But this is the moment to stop and breathe. Remember. Assess. Breathe deeply again. And then proceed.
I told myself that if I could put it into remission once then I could do it again. I took time to look up recent research on diets that were proven to help ankylosing spondylitis. There’s actually way more on that now than when I was first diagnosed. Most people are finding a low-starch diet to be beneficial. I knew I had to reduce my sugar intake. It’s so easy to slowly start adding it back into your diet- a little here, a little there. I did really well for a bit and then birthday season hit our home. It’s always my season of eating too much sugar. That gluten free cheesecake is. just. so. good! But I digress…
I started supporting my liver. I talked with my doctor about adjusting my dose of LDN (low dose naltrexone- more on this topic to come). I changed my pillow. I scheduled regular chiropractic adjustments to keep mobility. I scheduled in more rest and increased my nutrition. I did the things I did before and a few I had learned in recent years.
It’s just over a year since it flared up, and I would say I am 90% of the way into remission. The pain is way less in both intensity and frequency. Last time it took me at least 3 years to go into remission. What’s the lesson? Don’t give up. Don’t turn to fatalistic thoughts when things regress. These can be momentary setbacks. We get to choose if we will allow it to cause us to give up, or if we will take what we have learned and press forward.
I know that everyone is different. Not all chronic illnesses can be put into remission.But our bodies are amazing at healing and repairing themselves with the right support. It does require determination and sacrifice (I’m looking at you cheesecake). But health can be reclaimed. We CAN manage the conditions we battle instead of them managing us. They may never be completely removed from our life. I will always have to eat gluten free, and my body does way better on low to no sugar. I may have to always take supportive supplements. But I am living my life and doing things I enjoy- including a rare piece of cheesecake!
One day at a time. Don’t give up!
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (ESV)