Going AIP

I decided last month that I (Kelli) was going to treat my Thyroid Cancer with nutrition. First I was eating a laid back Paleo plan but I was experiencing a lot of bloating and weight gain. Through doing a lot of research and wrestling with what exactly I wanted to do I decided that I needed to eat a strict Auto-Immune Protocol diet.

I'm a firm believer in Clean Eating with little to no restrictions so this strict "diet" decision has been super hard for me. However, when you have a strict Auto-Immune disease you have to factor in your food choices and treat your body with food. Everything that you eat either helps or hinders your health. For people with Auto-Immune disorders your body attacks the good and the bad alike and so you have a harder time healing. The final straw was when I had a scratch for two weeks that would not heal, two days into eating AIP and my scratch was gone!

I had planned on starting this plan on November 1st but I decided to start right away because I was just ready to feel good again. I'm starting on week two and I feel good! I'm starting to feel like I can get back to working out again soon, I'm not battling bloat after every meal, and I've actually started losing weight again! Being healthy and living life fully is so important to me so this feels right.

It is a little harder to eat out on a spur of the moment because I do have some pretty strict food restrictions but it's doable. I am doing some intense food prepping on the weekends so that I'm still able to throw meals together quickly during the week and because I don't cook differently for myself than the rest of the family, everyone is benefiting from the change in foods I'm serving.

I will be sharing my recipes, tips, and more of my journey in my group here. Members get lots of support and bonuses as well as a book for joining.

Tell me about yourself and how you eat in the comments. 

Not Healing Fast Enough

I haven't given an update on myself in a while... Not because stuff hasn't been happening or going on but mainly because I've been busy with the kids, my private coaching group Coach Kelli's Crowd, and family life. Quite honestly, I've been so busy convincing myself and other's that I was fine that I ignored the fact that I really wasn't.

I convinced myself that the constant exhaustion was normal and would ease up eventually. I got sick after workouts and struggled for days afterwards but told myself to suck it up and deal. I forgot words or used the wrong word. I was forgetful, there was nothing better than the day I couldn't find my keys only to realize that they were in the ignition of the car! The list goes on and on...

I knew that my meds weren't quite regulated, a must for anyone with Thyroid Imbalance. So I waited patiently for my doctor's appointment. I was armed with information and a list to discuss. I arrived at my appointment only to realize that I was two days early! Frustrated, overwhelmed and somewhat despondent I went home to cry and wait two more days.

On the day of the correct appointment, we went over my lab work. She was quite shocked that I was even upright because my Vitamin D and Ferritin levels were so low. Most people with levels that low can't function and are normally in the hospital! I am now on 12000 IUD of Vitamin D with D3 and two iron supplements a day. I am also on an Adrenal Support supplement and Nature-throid. I'm sure my husband is tired of me telling him how good I feel but I actually feel like a functioning person again!

The doctor has put me on a month of no major activity, not because she doesn't see the benefit of exercise but because my body needs to heal. I haven't gone to bootcamp in three weeks and at first I was struggling with the fact that I love bootcamp and I just miss it! I've been walking and doing some stretches but mainly I have let my body heal and it feels good. When you have Thyroid Imbalance or Adrenal Fatigue, the last thing you want to do is stress out your body or tax it to exhaustion; that is what I had done and so it really couldn't heal. I tell my clients to listen to their body all of the time, it's time for me to do that as well. Healing doesn't happen overnight, I need to quit expecting that to happen.

My Little Ordeal- Part Three

If you haven't been keeping up with my story you probably want to read here and then here. Now you are ready for an update.

I went in on Thursday July 23rd for my surgery. It was early but not really that early when my husband and I headed out. I was coffee and breakfast deprived which may or may not have made me irritable. I checked in and then got sent across the hospital for labs. I'm not sure about you but getting to run across the hospital to get pricked with a needle isn't my idea of a good time. Then, I ran back across the way to check in again.

I went back in to a room and put on my stunning hospital gown, compression boot thingys, socks, and hat to hold my hair back. Then, they brought Rusty in to sit with me while we waited and about a million people came in to hook me up to some sort of monitor. I then started to get incredibly scared. "I don't want to do this," I told my husband. I want to explore other options.
"Okay. What do you want to do right now?"
"Let's unplug this stuff off of me and leave."
"Let's pray first and then we will do whatever you want."
We prayed and I knew for a fact that I had to have surgery, darn it!
Yes, I almost left the hospital literally ten minutes before I got rolled in for surgery.

Then the fun started. The nurse with "margaritas arrived. Unfortunately the margaritas were inserted into my IV and I never got to taste them. I was then wheeled into surgery and I remember nothing until I woke up screaming randomness in recovery and then I woke up again in my room. The rest of this is from what my husband told me afterwards.

When my surgery was supposed to be over the surgeon came in to tell my husband that I did indeed have Cancer. This was quite the shock to the surgeon and everybody because this was supposed to be more of a precaution than anything. I had told Rusty repeatedly that I did not want to have two surgeries and our prayer had been that I would only ever have to have one. Therefore, my whole Thyroid was taken out. My "simple" day surgery turned into an overnight stay in the hospital. My surgery lasted about six hours instead of the three to four that it was supposed to.

When I woke up in my room I was pretty out of it and my throat hurt a lot. Rusty told me that I had Cancer and I just stared at him. Then I teared up. However, they don't let you mourn for long when you've been in surgery for six hours. I was given some soup and a slushy to eat along with tons of water. They got me up to go to the bathroom and then I sent Rusty home to see the kids with the plans of him coming back later that night.

Then, shift change happened and I got the Terror Nurse. She gave me a shot of Morphine and I told Rusty to come back in the morning. I then gave in to the tears and woke up several hours later in the worst pain of my life. I asked for pain meds and got them several hours later. People were in and out of my room and I don't remember most of the night.

At 5:30 in the morning the nurse and tech came in and turned on my overhead light to draw blood. I may or may not have yelled at them both. Seriously, 5:30 AM to pull blood! I was given the first of many pills to stimulate Thyroid function, these pills will be part of my life for the rest of my life, and then they turned off my lights and told me to go back to sleep. At that point I couldn't go back to sleep so I played on Facebook for a while and responded to my messages, texts, etc.

At 7 I got a new nurse, yay! I was also allowed to order breakfast (side note, have you ever noticed that hospitals and jails are somewhat similar?). My new nurse even brought me a cup of coffee freshly brewed from the nurse's station, I really loved this nurse. After breakfast I was allowed to shower and get dressed which helped me feel like a whole new person. Then, Rusty arrived and I was discharged.

The ride home was horrible. I got nauseous and felt like I had been hit by a truck. I don't remember the ride home but I do remember seeing my kids when I got home. They were a welcome sight, I missed them so much!

I am now a week and a half out from surgery and recovering. I'm getting stronger and waiting on what happens next. For some Thyroid Cancer patients that means a Radiation Pill called RAI (radiation ablation iodine) for others that means that labwork and scans are done to determine if the Cancer was all removed.

I do know one thing, I'm happy that I went ahead with my surgery and I'm happy that I took my Thyroid Coaching course in the Spring. This gives me the ability to  help more people with Thyroid Imbalance and Thyroid Cancer. I know that this is the path that God has for me to walk right now. If you have Thyroid problems or Cancer you can schedule a complimentary consultation with me here.

Can Modern Medicine and Natural Remedies Coexist?

When you have health problems you get a lot of different suggestions. Some of them are great and some of them are off the wall, others tend to run in the middle. I understand that and expected all of the above when I decided to write about what was going on with me. You can read about that here and here. The fact that I am a Health Coach and just finished a course on Thyroid Coaching has helped me a lot and I am so thankful that I found my lump AFTER I finished my course. It has also meant that I can see where medicine and natural remedies can work together to help a person. The problem lies in the fact that I am more of a natural remedies person. If my kids have an ear infection I am more likely to use garlic oil drops in their ear before I call the doctor. However, if my kids broke their arm or needed medical attention I would not hesitate to take them in immediately.

When I made the choice to write about my health journey (and there's probably going to be a lot more coming) I made the choice to put myself out there and I hope that I can help others dealing with what I'm dealing with. I have debated going through with my surgery, I am scared to function with only half of my Thyroid, I might spend the rest of my life trying to regulate my hormones. If I have Cancer then I will lose my whole Thyroid which means that I will spend the rest of my life on a form of medicine.

I have been told that I should use different herbs, change my diet, do a cleanse, get over it, that there are worse things than being on medicine, that this is no big deal, and so much more. You know what, some of these things are spot on and others not so much.

I have been using oils and herbs to help support my Thyroid since I found the lump. However, my T3, T4, and TSH are completely normal. Lumps on your Thyroid don't always mean that your function is out of whack, however there are those cases that you can get your function under control and the lumps go away.

My diet is actually pretty great to regulate Thyroid function. Since I got diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue, I decided to eat AIP and that helped tremendously! I did go a little nuts while I was on vacation but got right back on track when I got home. I even questioned myself enough to track my food for the last few weeks and look at what I was eating the same way I would for a client, other than a slice of pizza I have been eating extremely clean.

A cleanse is not going to get rid of lumps on a Thyroid. In fact, your body is designed to cleanse itself if you are eating properly. I rarely encourage people to do cleanses unless they really truly need it.

I would love to just "get over it," I really would but I am scared. Yep, I admitted it. The thought of having part of my body cut open and removed is scary. I would love to not spend my time wondering if I have Cancer or not. I have been second guessing myself since all of this happened and wondering if I am even a good Health Coach, and I have decided that I am. I understand even better what many of my clients go through now and I am even more excited to help them and reach more people. I don't like my journey but I am enjoying getting to the destination.

There are worse things than being on medicine for the rest of your life, yes this is true. However, for a person that doesn't even take Ibuprofen or Tylenol anymore this is a pretty big deal. I am thankful for modern medicine, in fact if it wasn't for it I wouldn't even have my twins! If I do have to take medicine, I will take it and be happy that it's there so I can live my life and take care of my family. I have however searched out some other options that I hope will work for me. If they don't then that's okay too.

This is no big deal. Honestly, this is one that has bugged me the most. No, I don't have Breast Cancer or any of the other biggies. In fact, I may not have Cancer at all but in my little world this is a big deal to me. I don't have anything nice to say here so I'm just going to keep on, keeping on...

So can Modern Medicine and Natural Remedies coexist? For me, yes! What do you think?